America's Calling
by TheGoldenTrioJKS
Summary: McGonagall doesn't want the students of Hogwarts to be denied the opportunity to truly finish their education, so she's giving Harry, Hermione and the rest of their class the chance to study abroad-in America. For some it's a chance, for others like Draco Malfoy there is no choice. They think they're escaping their notoriety, but trouble follows them from across the pond. OOC, AU
1. Fresh Start

**Rating:** M+/NC-17 (including consensual sex, profanity, violent fighting, alcohol consumption, marijuana consumption)

 **Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N:** Welcome us to FanFiction as a set of brand new writers!

* * *

 **Chapter 1 ~Fresh Start~**

 **The Burrow**

"Hermione dear," Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs, "There are owls for you lot in the kitchen. Please come down and bring the boys with you, won't you?"

"Yes Mrs. Weasley!" Hermione Granger rang out down the uneven staircase.

"Ron, Harry! There are owls for us downstairs," opening Ron's door at the top of the steps. "Come on, your mum is calling for us."

Ron groaned into his pillow as Harry yawned and stretched, reaching for his glasses. Harry got up, grabbed his pillow and threw it at his best friend.

"Get up Ron."

"Arrgh, 5 more minutes!"

"Now, Ronald," Hermione said sternly, "your mum is waiting for us. I'm going to wake up Ginny. If you aren't down stairs in 5 minutes, I won't be responsible for what happens," she said walking out the door.

"Bloody hell! It's summer, the war is over and I can't even sleep for 5 more minutes."

"Get up mate," Harry said pulling up his trousers. "Let's go see what's for breakfast," knowing full well that food would motivate his tired friend.

Ron grumbled, but sat up and started to get dressed. The boys made their way down the staircase as Ginny walked out of her door in front of them.

"This is odd," Hermione said holding a piece of untouched, buttered toast as the others entered the kitchen. Hermione was already reading her letter, "Seems Hogwarts will be reopening, but there is an opportunity for students from our year to study abroad this year. Headmistress McGonagall would like to know if I want to go," she said, looking slightly confused.

"Didn't you guys get free passes from the ministry on your 7th year, you know, because you saved the _world_?" Ginny asked, surprised.

"We did, but she offered all of us the opportunity to actually take classes and sit our exams at the end of the year. You know, earn them on our own merits, instead of just resting on our war records. She feels it would be an amazing experience," Hermione stated, clearly intrigued by the idea.

"Did you lot get them as well?" she asked, looking at Harry and Ron.

Sure enough, there on the table were letters for Harry and Ron. Both the boys opened their letters. Harry read his letter carefully, but Ron looked up quickly from his and said, "Yeah, but I'm not going," tossing his letter back on the table and dishing bacon on his plate, "Why would I volunteer to take class and sit exams?" he scoffed moving on to the hash browns. "If the ministry is going to give me a pass, I'm going to accept it," he said, shovelling food in his mouth. " 'M gon' take Kigsy up on 'is off, and star' Auror train' next monf'" Ron said, around a mouthful of food.

"Quite," Hermione said, a look of mild disgust on her face.

"Come again?" Ginny asked handing Ron a serviette.

Ron swallowed and wiped his mouth with the proffered napkin, blushing furiously. "I'm going to take Kingsley up on his offer, and start Auror training next month," he finished.

"I had been planning on doing the same as Ron…" Harry conceded, not looking at Hermione.

"Oh come on Harry, it'll be great!" Hermione pleaded. "We only have one more year, and to go to a new place where no one knows you? It would be refreshing! It's only one more year of school; you can start Auror training next summer. You know Kingsley will hold your spot, but a chance to see the world and not on the run, you can't pass this up! Meeting new and interesting wizards and witches, sounds amazing."

"Come on Harry," Hermione urged, "don't you want to have just one last year where you don't have to be 'The Chosen One', where you can just be Harry Potter?"

"How do you know they won't know him at the new school?" Ron asked in confusion.

"Because Voldemort had to control the British Wizarding world first, obviously," Hermione answered exasperated. "He didn't have enough followers to branch past the UK. This school is in California. There's no _way_ he had anyone there yet. It's probably why we're going there and not to Beauxbaton, or Durmstrang. Not that Durmstrang would have taken me," she added as a point of fact.

"Beauxbaton would," Ron said, "Why go all the way to California?"

"Because Ronald, I want to go where no one knows me. They know about the war at Beauxbaton, and I want a fresh start."

"Yeah," Harry said with a far off look, thinking about it. On the one hand, Harry had been excited to move on from school, on to the next chapter of his life with Ron. On the other, he couldn't quite picture what that next chapter should be. Who was he without being "The Chosen One"? What should he be doing, if he's not off fighting the good fight and taking down The Dark Lord? Could he even become an Auror without Hermione's help? Perhaps one more year of school, somewhere where there were no preconceptions about who he was, or what he could do would allow him to figure it all out. Having evaluated the pros and cons, he made his decision.

"Somewhere where no one knows me would be nice, actually. Okay, I'm in. One last year, how about it Ron? 7th year in California?" Harry asked, vaguely excited at the prospect.

Ron looked horrified and scoffed, "No way, I'm done with books and N.E.W.T.s. I am going to do my training and become an Auror."

"Fine," Hermione said in a huff, "Harry and I will go without you. Who else do you think will go Harry? Let's go owl some of the others and see who will be joining us," and with that she turned and went to leave the room.

Suddenly, something crashed into the kitchen through the open window ending up in Mrs. Weasley's pancake batter. Ginny rushed over and retrieved what turned out to be Errol, the family owl.

"Bloody bird," Ginny mumbled, irritated, using a quick " _scourigify!"_ to clean off the owl as well as the letter he was carrying.

"What's this?" Mrs. Weasley asked, gesturing to the letter.

Ginny had gone completely still. "It's a letter from Professor McGonagall," she replied, stunned.

"Well dear, go on and open it already!" Mrs. Weasley admonished, returning to the griddle and her pancakes.

"YES!" Ginny shouted, fist pumping the air, "McGonagall wants me to go to California with them," she stated proudly.

"I beg your pardon?" Mrs. Weasley said, stopping in the middle of flipping a pancake, letting it fall to the floor.

"McGonagall said that because I was taken out of school halfway through term last year, I'm behind all of my classmates." Ginny continued, clearly reading the wariness on her mother's face, "The Western Academy of Magic in California has an accelerated curriculum that would allow me to do my last half of year six simultaneously with year seven," she finished, clearly excited. "Mum, I'd graduate on time!" she said, trying to win her over.

"I don't know Ginevra," Mrs. Weasley said with a frown, and examining Ginny's letter, "Where exactly _is_ this school? Cal-i-for-nia. Is that in Canada? Ginny, I don't know if I want you going abroad for the year, I don't want you too far away."

"But Mum, Voldemort is dead! This is no more dangerous than it was going to Hogwarts last year," Ginny pointed out. "And look, it won't cost any more than my usual school supplies. Please Mum! I want to go with Hermione, and I want to graduate with my friends," she begged.

"We'll talk to your father dear," Mrs. Weasley said to her daughter, "Let's not make any decisions yet."

"Well, no disrespect Mrs. Weasley, but if Harry and I are going, there's no reason Ginny shouldn't," Hermione said reluctantly. "I've always liked the idea of going back to complete my education, and I completely agree that Ginny should finish hers, but… Hogwarts has too many memories. While I love the school, I'm not sure we could walk through those halls again without crying."

"That's a fair point," Mrs. Weasley said thoughtfully looking at her daughter. Ginny's eyes started glistening as she thought of the friends and family she lost at the beloved school. "Ok Ginny dear, if you really want to go… I'll talk to your father, I'm sure it will be fine."

"Thank you Mum," she cried, as the tears overtook her, hugging her mother tight. "I just… I don't know what I would do if I came across any of their ghosts, or walked past where they fell. It would be too hard to be there, especially if I was behind all of my friends."

"Mental," Ron whispered, "to think of going across the world just to go to school."

"I kind of like that idea actually," Harry said to his friend. "Not being known, one year where I can just be me," he said and followed Hermione and Ginny back upstairs.

* * *

 **Same Day - Malfoy Manor**

Draco Malfoy was opening a letter that morning, sitting in the kitchen while he ate his breakfast. He tended to avoid the main living areas of the manor these days, preferring to eat in the kitchens, or his quarters in the south wing. The common areas of the manor that were used for the Dark Lord's purposes were all areas that were tainted in his opinion. Mind you, there wasn't much of the world that hadn't been tainted by that megalomaniac, but damned if he'd eat his breakfast where he knew firsthand people had been tortured, or killed. He almost wished they could level the place and start from scratch. Erase all the memories; rebuild the noble House of Malfoy.

His life had taken a very interesting turn in the last few years. No longer was he the son of a respected pureblood family, now he was the son of a known former supporter of Lord Voldemort. Not only was he the son, but he was also the youngest Death Eater to be accepted by the Dark Lord. Well, except for Regulus Black, but he was long dead so he didn't count anymore in his mind. He had only been sixteen when he was forced to take the mark. _Sixteen_. Voldemort had threatened his family, what was he supposed to do? He did what any petrified, slightly arrogant, but loving son would do; he protected his mother from the mad man by becoming one of his minions. Sure, there'd been the seductive idea of power, but he could never have known the full weight of the decision he had made that day. He wouldn't take it back, because it had saved his mother, but he was working on trying to forgive the Draco Malfoy that had voluntarily taken the Dark Mark.

He scratched the mark on his left arm involuntarily, wishing he could burn it, rip the skin, cut off his arm and walk around with muscle and sinew hanging out instead. Anything was better than what was there. He loathed that mark, ashamed that he once wanted it, wanted it branded on him, to feel superior to those supposed filthy mud… muggleborns. Now that he had it, he was stuck, stuck with a reminder of his mistaken lust for power. _Be careful what you wish for_ , he thought as his eyes flicked down to the pale wrist of his left arm. The mark was faded because the Dark Lord was dead, but it would always be there, a reminder of his stupidity.

"Draco, darling, what is that you're reading?" Narcissa Malfoy asked her son as she walked into the kitchen with a bouquet of flowers from the garden.

"Hogwarts letter. I'm to attend school in California for my last year," Draco said taking a sip of his tea.

"Don't be silly darling," Narcissa laughed, handing the flowers to her elf and sitting next to her son as another elf brought her breakfast over. "California? Why would you go to California?" she asked.

"Hogwarts is allowing our year to study abroad in California to finish their last year. McGonagall has _suggested_ that I go along."

"No." Narcissa said with finality, "No, you will not go to California, I forbid it. It's too far away. If you have to go elsewhere, you'll go to Durmstrang."

"No mum, _I_ can't," Draco said with a sigh. He'd known his mother would take the news badly, "It was part of my plea agreement that I would finish school under McGonagall. If she's decided that California is the best place for me, well… It's her choice where I go, not ours. You know that Durmstrang was never an option," he said gently. "The way they treat the Dark Arts, the ministry would rather send me to Azkaban. I'm not even allowed to come back for the holidays according to this. I'm to stay at the school, or board with another wizarding family for the Christmas and Easter holidays."

"But, that's preposterous," Narcissa raged, tears in her eyes. "They can't send you overseas for an entire year without letting you come home! They may as well send you to Azkaban, at least I would be able to visit you there. They know I'm not allowed to leave the country for 5 years."

Draco stood and hugged his mother, "It's ok Mum, it's just one year. I will still have at least one friend coming with me. Theo said he would be coming back this year. I'll write you every week, it'll go by quickly ok? Don't cry."

"This is punishment for your father!" she seethed.

"No, this is punishment for me," he stated simply looking at his mother. His silver eyes shiny with unshed tears. "This is my punishment for my stupidity and I know that now, don't fret Mum, it won't be too long. Now, I am going to Theo's to see if he knows of anyone else who will be returning to finish their last year. I don't believe anyone else is coming, but you never know. I'll be home later." He gave his mother a kiss on the cheek, walked out the back door and past the anti-apparition wards where he turned and disapparated.

Draco found himself in the gardens outside of Nott Manor. He walked through the gate and up to the door where he was greeted by Daisy, the Nott family elf.

"Good morning Mr. Draco," the elf greeted him, "Master Teddy is in the dining room having breakfast, would you like me to bring you a plate?"

"No, thank you Daisy, I ate at home, but I would like a cup of tea."

"Of course, Mr. Draco, right away," and the elf closed the door behind Draco and disappeared with a _pop!_ His tea was waiting for him when he went into the dining room to greet his best friend.

"Morning wanker, did you get your letter?" Draco said, stirring some sugar into his tea.

"Yeah, I got it just before you graced me with your presence," Theo said after he swallowed his mouthful.

"What do you think? You think anyone else will be coming along to California?"

"Doubtful. Daphne and Astoria are both getting married soon. Their parents got them a couple of blokes from Rome I think, or Greece… one of the two. Either way, they're from far enough away that they don't know what's been going on here. Greg can barely spell his name let alone California and Millicent has fled the country. Maybe Pansy? I haven't spoken to her yet."

"So you think it will just be the two of us then?"

"Probably… Pansy may come though, otherwise she will be sitting here waiting for her parents to find her a husband."

"Great," Draco said, still stirring his tea, "I wonder who else is coming, you know, from other houses."

"Well I'm sure Granger, the swot, will be coming. You know she was going to finish her last year. There is no way she would miss a chance to stick her nose in a book and show everyone up on exams," Theo laughed and Draco gave him a half smile. "I don't know many of the other kids from the other houses, so not sure who else will be there. I don't think many will come. I think most are just ready to move on from school, you know?"

"Yeah, probably," Draco said, deep in thought. "Do you think Potter will come?" Draco asked nonchalantly. In fact, Draco was most interested in The Chosen Prat staying home. If he had to go abroad he didn't want a constant reminder of the war and his monumental cockup. The Dark Mark was enough of a reminder, thank you very much

"Wouldn't you?" Theo asked. "The chance to go abroad, to live your life without everyone knowing who you are, and that you're some child prodigy destined to defeat the darkest wizard that's ever lived?"

Draco sighed, resigned, "Great, just great." He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Mother is upset that we can't come home for visits. She can't leave the country and father is in Azkaban, she'll have no one to take care of her," he said, changing the topic.

"Your mother is strong, she'll be fine."

"I hope so."


	2. Saying Goodbye

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

* * *

 **Chapter 2 ~Saying Goodbye~**

 **Diagon Alley**

Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron all floo'd to Diagon Alley, where they met Neville Longbottom.

"Hey Harry!" Neville said, raising a hand for a shake. "Hermione, Ginny, Ron," nodding to the girls, and Ron in turn.

"Blimey Neville, you're looking fit!" Ginny said, appraising the young Gryffindor.

"Ah… thanks?" he murmured, blushing slightly. In truth, not eating much during the last year, while withstanding the punishments the Carrow's doled out like sweets accompanied by a strong dash of puberty had left Neville looking, long, lean and well muscled.

"Since when do you wear leather?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Since I discovered that road rash is incredibly painful." The rest of them looked at him speculatively and he explained, "I bought a muggle motorcycle over the summer, and ditched it doing 120 kilometers an hour. Believe me, leather is your best defense against tarmac."

Ginny and Hermione were staring at Neville with frank interest, while Ron and Harry were staring at him like he was a three headed dog.

Neville shrugged and asked, "Mind if I tag along? I've got to get my school supplies and get measured for my new uniform."

" _New uniform?"_ Ron gaped, "You're not fixing to go to America too, are you? You already _finished_ your last year - why would you go back to school for Merlin's sake!?" Ron was really starting to lose his cool.

Neville's expression hardened, "In case you've forgotten, I spent the majority of my 'seventh year' hiding students in the Room of Requirement and evading torture at the hands of the Carrows, among other people. Keeping people clothed, fed and safe. It wasn't all transfiguration essays and potions homework you know, it was life and death. You weren't the only ones fighting a war Ron," he said stonily.

Ron had the grace to look slightly abashed while muttering, "'Course not mate, that wasn't what I said, did I?"

"That's great Neville! I'm glad you're joining us," interrupted Hermione brightly, glaring at Ron.

"Did you not sit your N.E.W.T's then?" she enquired politely, hand on his arm to direct him towards Slug & Jigger's Apothecary where the group would need to stop and get their potions ingredients.

"No, I didn't sit any exams, what with the destruction of Hogwarts and the killing of a giant snake thing," Neville quipped, earning him a quiet chuckle from Hermione and Harry.

The four students had a long day of shopping for school supplies. Ron's tagging along to try to convince his best friend to skip 7th year, and instead start training with him in September was slowing them down considerably. As they walked into the apothecary Ron had redoubled his efforts to convince Harry he was making a huge mistake.

"Come on Harry, wouldn't you rather be the youngest Auror in service than go back to doing homework?" Ron had asked for the third time that morning, "I mean come on, catching dark wizards is far more interesting than astronomy."

"Actually Ron, after doing it for the past seven years, I'm not sure it is," Harry replied, irritated as he looked for the boomslang skin on his list of needed potion ingredients.

Hermione rolled her eyes. She knew why Ron was so persistent about Harry skipping this last year. Ron hadn't done a single thing without her or Harry in seven years. He was always Harry Potter's best friend. It was the thing that gave him a slight edge over everyone else, but in less than a month he was going to be just plain old Ron Weasley. That scared him a little - she was sure he wasn't exactly comfortable being just Ron Weasley and not 'The Chosen One's closest friend'.

"Give it up Ronald," Hermione reprimanded, "Harry has made his choice, just as you have. He needs this time to decompress and so do I, it was a hard year last year."

"I had the same year," Ron spat, "You don't see me running away."

"Not this time," Hermione hissed under her breath. She was still upset that he'd left them in the middle of their hunt for the Horcruxes. It's why she knew it would never work out between the two of them. She couldn't trust him anymore, not with their mission and not with her heart.

"What was that?" Ron spat angrily, "What did you say?"

"Nothing Ronald! Why don't you go into Quality Quidditch with Ginny and Neville. Harry and I will be right there," Hermione huffed. They would be leaving in a few days and she didn't want to spend their last days together for the foreseeable future arguing with him.

Harry had heard her and looked up quickly to distract Ron before he started a row. "Hey Ron, will you make sure they have the right broomstick polish for me while you're in there?" Tossing him a couple galleons, "You know which I want?"

"Yeah," he said shortly, "Sure." Ron staring daggers at Hermione, he turned and left the apothecary with his sister. Neville traveled quietly behind them, glancing back to catch Hermione's eye and give her a short nod before following them out the door.

"'Mione, when are you going to forgive him?" Harry pleaded with her. "Do I have to remind you, he saved my life?"

"Yes, I know Harry," Hermione spat out, "and you know I'm trying, but he left us! I can't just forget that, he left us in the middle of the worst year of our lives. He fucking _left_!"

Frustrated tears started streaming down her face, "Even if he wanted to come back, even if he changed his mind, the second he walked out of the tent," she drew a ragged breath and continued, "...the fact is, he still walked out. I can't do it, I can't get over the fact that when things got hard, he bailed. And then just expects for things to be okay? Oh, so you destroyed a Horcrux, that gives you a free pass to be a coward?" Furiously, she wiped her tears away, "He knows how I feel Harry, and he can't forgive me either."

Harry was surprised at the anger that came out of Hermione's mouth. He had always known that she was upset with Ron. She didn't forgive as easily as he did, and she was still nursing a broken heart over his best friend leaving her, not him, not even them, but her. He gave her a fierce hug, "I know Hermione, I know. I know he's sorry, but maybe this will be a good break for all of us? Maybe this is what you will need to forgive him, to be away from Britain, away from Ron and just be you again."

"Maybe," Hermione agreed, sadness clouding her deep brown eyes, "Or maybe that's it for Ron and I. Maybe our true friendship has passed. It's not that I don't want to forgive him, but I just can't. Maybe it's too soon. I loved him Harry, I loved him for years and he over looked me. Then when we needed him, when _I_ needed him the most, he took off. How can I trust that if things get bad again he won't do the same thing? I can't keep waiting for him to just leave."

She took a deep breath, and brought up the obvious, "So what about you and Ginny? You two decided to move on too?"

Looking away, and running his hand through his hair Harry finally said, "We both agreed that too much has changed."

"Everything _has_ changed, Harry, but now we can start anew. At least you and Ginny are still friends," Hermione said, comfortingly.

Harry shrugged, indicating he didn't want to talk about it anymore, "Come on 'Mione, let's go find the others, get the rest of our stuff and have some lunch." He pulled her round while still holding on to her waist, "Let's spend the last few days having fun before our new adventure, and this time you don't have to cook fungus we find in the woods."

She laughed at her best friend, he always could make her feel better. She wiped her face and glamoured her red eyes and blotchy face away so she looked fresh and new. They were still being followed by reporters and cameras and the last thing she needed was for the morning paper to announce that Harry Potter had broken up with his Muggleborn 'girlfriend' and she was crying into his arms, or some such rubbish. He let go of her waist as they got to the front of the store and opened it for her, flashes from camera bulbs brought stars to her eyes. This is something she would not miss, not even allowed to go shopping for school supplies without it being in the Daily Prophet.

"How interesting can it be that we got potion ingredients?" she muttered to Harry.

"Well," he said, blinking quickly to get his vision back, "I'm sure it'll be front page news for a while longer. Blimey, I can't wait to leave! This is horrendous," he said, pushing his way through the crowd of paparazzi.

The two of them headed to Quality Quidditch where they found Ginny and Ron waiting to make their purchases; Neville had headed to Potage's Cauldron Shop to replace the cauldon he had melted, again, in his last year during Potions. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement not to mention what had happened earlier, and they all headed over to Flourish and Blotts for their books. After that, they went to Madame Malkins to have their measurements taken for their new school uniforms that would be waiting for them when they arrived.

Spending the day shopping had seemed like a harmless idea, but upon execution they realized their mistake. Long gone are the days of easy shopping in the alley. They were all too well known now, they would be followed and hounded until they left for the States.

Before they left for home, they stopped by Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes to visit with George and maybe pick up some joke items. They often checked on the older Weasley. Without Fred, George was lost. It was more than missing his ear, he was missing a part of his soul. Luckily, they found George in high spirits today. He was excited to see this opportunity for Ginny most of all. She deserved something all her own if you asked him.

"Plus, Gin, think of what you could bring to Wizarding Wheezes! We could open a shop in America. The possibilities are endless!" he said, gleefully.

Ron scoffed at the idea. He was becoming more and more intolerable as the afternoon wore on.

"What's wrong, little bro, you don't think we can expand our operation here with the help of our fearless sister?

Ginny grinned as she noticed Ron's face grow a deeper shade of red. One glance at Hermione and she knew she wasn't handling Ron's attitude well. Soon there would be a scene if Ginny didn't do something. She stepped in between her older brothers and embraced George.

"I'm going to miss you so much! You will write, won't you?" then turning around to face Ron she teased, "And you Mr. Ultra Prat, please don't get yourself Avada'd while I'm gone."

* * *

 **The Ministry of Magic**

The portkey was ready. Of course, the Ministry felt the need to choose an elaborate object to show their wealth and power, not to mention, no cost would be spared to transport 'The Chosen One'.

A golden statue of Merlin stood on the table before the group of teenagers. They all sat around a table. Hermione, Harry, Ginny and Neville sat close together, though it appeared to be out of mere friendship rather than due to the hostile expressions of the three Slytherins sitting across from them.

Hermione and Harry looked resolved, if a little nervous, while Ginny looked positively elated - probably at the prospect of a year away from her family. Neville was quiet, just observing everything, and everyone. His eyes frequently stayed on the Slytherin contingent as if he expected them to launch themselves across the table and attack.

"Well, I called the swot, didn't I? Oh and the Chosen One," voiced Theo to Draco. "Couldn't have called Longbottom though, what is he even doing here? And Ginny… she's not even in our year! What's McGonagall thin..."

Draco didn't acknowledge Theo's running commentary. He was doing well to keep his signature sneer on his face while under the scrutiny of the fantastic four across the table. He truly was feeling a nervousness that he couldn't describe. Who cares if Potter was across the table? Who cares if the know-it-all swot was sitting next to him? Theo and Pansy were sitting next to him, weren't they? It was an even match considering they had Longbottom, he could almost be counted against them strength wise. He snorted, but then remembered Longbottom's role in the demise of the Dark Lord and thought it might be best not to underestimate him.

The reality of his situation interrupted his quiet musings about the crew across the table. He was about to touch a portkey to take him to America. He was about to enter a world where 'Malfoy' had no meaning. While his name didn't have the same influence these days as it had in the past and he was still used to being important, respected. Now, he was starting from scratch. Now he was nothing. He had a clear choice here: he could use this to his advantage, or he could let it swallow him whole, and he'd drown in the nothingness that he truly was. He hoped he had the stones to choose the former.

"The seven of you have chosen to study abroad this school term at the Western Academy of Magic on the Northern Coast of California," McGonagall said with a certain amount of ceremony.

" _Chosen?_ " Draco sneered.

"Things will be different," McGonagall continued, ignoring the interruption, "You will study different areas of magic. You will live with wizards and witches of a different culture. You should each feel extraordinarily lucky to have this opportunity." Headmistress McGonagall continued, "When each of you return you will sit your N.E.W.T.'s and I expect each of you to pass with flying colors. This is a privilege, and I expect you each to treat it as such. You have been trusted to represent Hogwarts and I expect you to do so, proudly, and nobly." McGonagall straightened her already straight back and continued, "I will _not_ have any of you put a toe out of line." She stared at the Slytherin trio, and then glanced at Harry and Hermione. "I mean that. If I receive one owl stating that you are not keeping up with your studies, or are disrespecting staff, or school rules," she glanced at Harry and Hermione again, who had the grace to look moderately chagrined at their well known history of rule breaking. "You will be brought right back to Hogwarts. For some of you this is your last chance - use it wisely." She said, pointedly staring at Draco. "In order to ensure you're on your best behaviour, each of you will sign a contract."

Draco stiffened, and noticed he was not the only one. Each of them knew the importance of a magical contract. This was nothing to be taken lightly.

The contract was simple enough, thank the Gods. Draco noticed the main point was not to get in trouble by breaking any rules - school, or laws; apparently muggle ones were included. Years with the Dark Lord in your home taught you a healthy respect for which rules were worth breaking and which weren't. It also taught you how to go unnoticed. Being respectful on the surface was what he understood. The key to avoid getting in trouble for breaking rules was to be respectful enough that no one looked at you long enough to catch you. Piece of cake.

A full quarter hour later, due to Granger's insistence that everyone read the contract in its entirety, everyone had signed and it was time to go.

"Okay, you will all be transferred, via portkey, to San Francisco and the catch a ferry to Alcatraz Island," recited the Headmistress.

"Wait, what?!" Harry exclaimed. "We're to live and attend school in an American Federal Penitentiary?! Professor… I mean Headmistress, we can't seriously be headed to a prison?"

Draco stiffened and his expression closed off. _He couldn't go to prison,_ he thought frantically. _Not after everything I've done to stay out of Azkaban. I turned witness on every Death Eater I knew of. I testified at all of their trials for Merlin's sake, didn't I? What more do they_ want _from me? How could they bloody do this to me!?_ He started breathing heavily. No one seemed to notice, except Hermione.

"Harry," Hermione said, putting on a brave face, "Didn't you read American Wizarding World? It's on the syllabus for this year for Merlin's sake! Alcatraz is just a glamour; what muggles see when they look at the Western Academy of Magic. Afterall, they could hardly expect a bunch of children to look forward to attending school in a prison!" she finished, looking Draco straight in the eye. Draco met her eye and inclined his head a fraction - a silent thank you for explaining things clearly and breaking the swirl of panic racing through his mind and bloodstream. He was still pale, and thought of the irony that he was still being sent to 'prison'.

"That's right, my dear. Alcatraz Island is simply a "ruse" as they call it. Western Academy of Magic is the school you will be attending. You will understand once you get there. Surely you don't think I'd put you in harm's way Mr. Potter?" Headmistress McGonagall asked. She looked at Harry with stern eyes. She willed him to understand that this was exactly what was supposed to be.

Harry noticed the look his previous Head of House gave him, and shook his head quickly. He kept silent, but grabbed Hermione's hand under the table when she reached for his. This wasn't what he had expected.

The time was close, so everyone stood up and placed a finger on the portkey. It had been awhile since Harry, Hermione, and Ginny had travelled by Portkey, and it wasn't a feeling they were looking forward to feeling again. Looking up, Hermione noticed that Neville, Draco, Pansy and Theo looked as nauseated as she felt. She glanced at Harry and they shared a nervous smile. This was their last moment of fame. From here on out, they were nobody. Harry Potter, the 'Chosen One', and Hermione Granger, the 'Gryffindor Princess' were just normal teenage wizards looking for the finest Wizarding education the world had to offer. They were just, Harry and Hermione. Hermione smiled. This is what she wanted. This is what she needed - to start over, and to be herself. She felt a tug just below her naval, and closed her eyes just in time as the portkey activated and sent them on their way.


	3. Welcome to WAM

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

* * *

 **Chapter 3 ~Welcome to WAM~**

 **Alcatraz Island**

 **Western Academy of Magic**

After what seemed like an eternity having their breath squeezed from their lungs, the group landed in what appeared to be an alley behind a restaurant named _Alioto's_ that boasted about "serving the freshest seafood, family Italian recipes, and the finest views since 1925"* _._ Hermione noted their general location, the restaurant's name and vowed to ask if the food was good for future reference.

As the group looked around, they spotted a middle aged man wearing an Armani suit with perfectly coiffed dark hair. "Hello pubescent persons, how are we all doing today?" he asked, surveying them all carefully.

Amongst general rumblings of, "Fine, thanks," and "Okay, I guess,"the gentleman began leading them through the streets of San Francisco towards Pier 33.

"My name is Terrence, and I will be your escort to the Western Academy of Magic this evening."

Draco, not wanting to appear too eager, had hung back from the group to try and take in his surroundings and was surprised by a shrill, "Yoo-hoo!" coming from Terrence.

"You, my tasty treat, need to stay with the group. Wouldn't want the reprobates around here to get a load of you, or they'll keep you all to themselves," he said, eyeing Draco appreciatively.

Draco, nonplussed at this obvious display of flirtation, rejoined the group, hastily putting Theo between Terrence and himself.

"Ok kiddies! Shall we make our way to my boat, the Western Fairy? That's F-A-I-R-Y, get it?" Terrence looked at them expectantly. The group of Hogwarts students looked at him blankly.

"Oh right, y'all call them poofters over there in Britain don't you? Well, that just doesn't pun well. I shouldn't have expected so much from a bunch of Brits - though I did hope someone might notice my superior sense of fashion and aesthetics," he finished, shaking his head solemnly.

Everyone groaned, and Terrence grinned widely, "You're all vaguely embarrassed, excellent! Mission accomplished. Now, all aboard!" he yelled, motioning them to board what looked to be a small, four seater boat indeed named, Western Fairy.

Once inside, they were completely amazed at what was actually a full sized ferry, complete with individual compartments that seated six.

"Undetectable extension charm?" Hermione asked Terrence.

"You bet your fine ass honey! Nothing but the best for WAM students," he gleamed, clearly pleased at her appreciation for his pride and joy.

The students made their way to the compartments. Hermione and Draco reached for the same compartment handle. Their hands touched and Hermione quickly pulled her hand back saying, "Sorry!" looking terrified.

Draco, shocked at the frisson of magic he'd felt when touching _Granger_ of all people, recovered quickly and responded nonchalantly, "After you," while moving on to a separate compartment with Theo and Pansy.

Harry's mouth dropped open in utter shock, "What the hell did you apologize for Hermione? You did nothing wrong!"

Hermione, still gaping after the Malfoy heir who, if she wasn't mistaken, had just been polite to her for the first time in his existence, simply said, "I touched him, I thought he wouldn't like it given my blood status. He didn't say a word though?" she looked around confused.

"You're damn right he didn't say a word," hissed Harry, "what right does he have to say anything? If he had, I would have…"

"Would have _what_?" Ginny interrupted pointedly. "Harry, the whole point of coming to California was to leave all of that other bollocks back at home. Why continue to hold a grudge against Malfoy? He didn't say anything when she touched him, so how do we even know he holds the same prejudices? We've all changed a lot as a result of the war, maybe he has too."

Harry looked at Ginny, gobsmacked. "I can't believe you're defending him. After everything he's done, to me, to everyone. Draco Malfoy has _not_ changed, he's just putting on the Slytherin facade that comes naturally to his kind," Harry spat.

"Careful Harry, you're starting to sound just like him with that 'his kind' shite," Ginny warned.

Neville stepped between them, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry mate, no harm, no foul. Everyone's safe and starting a fight with Malfoy over nothing won't keep them that way. I'd like to arrive at our new home in one piece if it's all the same to you, yeah?" Neville asked calmly.

Harry walked into the compartment Hermione had started to open and sat near the window, fuming. After that, it was a fairly uneventful ride. Harry wasn't talking to anyone, Neville and Ginny started talking about the latest issue of _Herbology Today_ that Neville had received just before leaving, and Hermione was left alone to her thoughts of Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin Prince being kind to her. She just didn't know what to make of it.

As they travelled, everyone couldn't help but stare in awe at their surroundings. The farther over the water they travelled, the bigger Alcatraz seemed. The island itself was massive, and rocks jutted out everywhere. One large building sat amongst quite a few smaller ones. There was even a lighthouse, and Hermione couldn't hold back her excitement at how much there was to learn about this place.

The boat bumped into the dock, and the group, all together now, looked up and saw what looked to be a large, aging and characterless, rectangular building.

Draco climbed onto the dock moving away for Theo to follow, accidently brushing past Hermione.

 _Dammit_ , he thought as that little, niggling sensation was there again. He must be losing his mind.

Terrence waved a flamboyant goodbye, while surreptitiously shaking hands with Draco Malfoy, money and promises trading places. During the ride, Draco had chatted up the ferry driver, trying to assess his proclivities for night time fun, and just how malleable he might be when it came to the rules. They'd quickly struck a bargain; Terrence had a taste for fine things, and Draco had the money to feed his habit. Draco looked up and had caught Hermione glaring at the exchange, seeming determined to see what exactly he was up to. He donned his best sneer, and she looked away.

They walked closer to the building directly in front of them. Hermione looked over and caught a glimmer of unease on Draco's face. He met her eye, and the glimmer disappeared as he stared at her, virtually expressionless, before fixing his characteristic aloof and cocky expression back on his face.

Shaking off the whole thing, Hermione followed Harry as he started towards the entrance. About ten paces from the door, the landscape completely changed; it was as if they'd passed through a magic curtain that only wizards could see behind. Now in front of them was a homey building, not unlike a castle, but with a comfortable feel. Less imposing and grand, more easy elegance and the group was looking directly at what looked to be a dormitory.

Harry looked around him as he breathed in the unfamiliar salty air. It was not what he was expecting, he knew the school was in California, but he wasn't expecting an island off the coast of... where was Alcatraz anyways? Northern California McGonagall had said or was it Southern? He looked over at his best friend and saw a genuine ear to ear grin. He hadn't seen one of those since Bill and Fleur's wedding. He smiled back at her and she pounced on him.

"Oh Harry!" she whispered, "This is going to be a great year!"

"Ahem!" an unfamiliar voice startled everyone to attention.

Ginny who had been investigating the cliffside, was startled and stumbled nearly going over the edge, when Neville grabbed her hand. "Be careful Gin," calmly, bringing her back until her feet were solid beneath her. Ginny, with her heart in her throat, quietly thanked him and went to join the group, who were all looking at Neville with looks ranging from downright surprise to utter confusion. Neville looked back sheepishly, making eye contact with Harry silently begging him to turn their attention elsewhere.

Harry turned to where the noise came from and saw a group of a dozen students and a tall slender woman, blonde hair streaked with silver, pulled into a loose bun at the back of her neck. He assumed this was their headmistress, "Over there!" he said to the group, drawing their gaze to the oncoming crowd. He looked back at Neville, who gave him a nod of thanks.

"If I can have your attention please." She cocked her head and caught their gazes with a practiced glare and a sudden resemblance to Professor McGonagall came into Harry's head causing him to smile again; some things shouldn't change.

"I am Ms. Carter, the Dean of the Western Academy of Magic, or WAM as some of the students here _insist_ on calling it," she began in a soft, but stern voice. "Follow me and I will show you to the main common room, and tell you a little about our school."

A WAM boy with spiky blond hair opened the door for the Dean of the school.

"Aww, Jake, ever the gentleman," a girl with light brown hair said with a grin. The students of the school started to laugh.

The boy, Jake, grinned back and said, "There is a first time for everything Sarah." The students laughed again as their teacher walked through the door.

"Thank you Jake, now if the Hogwarts students will follow me." Ms. Carter said smiling at her students and proceeding through the door.

The seven students followed in the wake of the other teenagers.

"I'm sure you have already read about our history, but seeing, is more than reading," pointing to a portrait of a man on the wall, Ms. Carter continued. "In 1775, a Spanish wizard named, Juan Manuel de Ayala founded Alcatraz Island. Seventy-five years later muggles took the island for military use. The building you walk through now was built in 1850 and began holding prisoners the same year. Alcatraz even held the "rebellious" American Indians known as Hopis from the Arizona territory. No one ever knew that the these magical and "rebellious" Indians are what brought the end to Alcatraz. In short, the muggles believe the operating expenses were just too much, and resulted in the closing of the prison. Western Academy of Magic was brought to life in 1964."

Hermione looked to Ms. Carter with many questions on the tip of her tongue.

Ms. Carter stopped her holding up a hand, before she began, "We have our library... Miss Granger, is it? Yes, Minerva gave me a heads up about you. You will also find Mr. Price, our American Magical History teacher a valuable resource, along with your fellow seventh year student, Ben. He hasn't arrived yet, but I'm sure you will find he takes his studies a bit more of a priority than say... Jake." She looked at her students and gave a kind, teasing smile. They all laughed.

"Now, there are only 3 years that go to our school, 5th through 7th year. Because of obvious spacing issues, this isn't like what you may be used to. This is your dormitory, it houses all the students and the cafeteria for your meals. All floors are according to grades. The ground floor is the cafeteria and an all age common area. Each floor above has their own common area that is password protected. Seventh years are housed on the top of the dorm.

Looking around in awe, they noticed just how different this place was than Hogwarts. The room was U-shaped, and an open concept with windows surrounding all the walls from floor to the ceiling. Light poured in everywhere. The pillars separated the atrium from the the common area. There were so many couches and sofas, even huge pillows in the corners. Tables, and random bookshelves littered the room between the seating. The floor was cushioned with a dark, chocolate brown carpet. When you stood in the Atrium and looked up you could see all 3 floors above. Green plants hung from the railings, it seemed like the light danced around the whole building.

Ms. Carter looked at the Hogwarts students with knowing eyes, "Now let's go up to your floor so you can get settled, and changed before lunch." Ms. Carter walked to the stairs, and they followed taking in everything around them.

"Okay," she said as she got to the top of the stairs and walked into a common area. She waved her hand, indicating for all students to find a seat. The Hogwarts students all looked around and stayed standing while the WAM students fell into sofas and arm chairs.

"Now this is your dorm area. Boys are down the hall on the left, girls are down the right hall. There are two students per room and you have already been assigned a roommate. Each Hogwarts student is paired with a WAM student who has been instructed to be a sort of, mentor, for the first few weeks to get you all acclimated to the schedule and your surroundings. There is no leaving the school during the week, but you are allowed to go off into the city on the weekends provided you stay with your roommate at all times. You don't know the area, therefore you must not leave without your roommate. San Francisco is a wonderful city, but it is a muggle city so we must blend in, obviously. We don't have robes here, as you can tell, and our uniforms closely resemble the muggle private school uniforms that are common in this part of California, so they should gain little attention. Some of the island is off limits and there is no way to leave the island except for Terrence and the Western Fairy."

At this bit of good news, Draco grinned at Theo and arched a well manicured brow. Hermione caught the gesture and couldn't believe they were already trying to bend the rules.

"Curfew is enforced and you must be in this building by midnight every school night, and by three AM on weekends, unless you have permission for an overnight stay off island. Now because of the way this year is set up, you will all be staying stateside during holiday vacations, but you don't have to stay at the school. You have the option of staying with one of the WAM students for the holidays if you wish, and I encourage you all to do so."

"My parents have already offered to take all the British students for the Winter holidays and Spring Break, Ms. Carter," a blonde haired girl called out, "You know how they are with the holidays. ' _Oh exchange students, how fun, they must come and be apart of our celebration, we'll have cake and punch and..._ ' whatever else my mom said. I stopped listening after she rambled on about 20 ft trees or whatever, but yeah, they are all welcome to stay with us."

Ms. Carter laughed and smiled warmly, "Thank your mother for me Kate, I'm sure that will give us all something to look forward to."

To the Hogwart's students she said, "Kate's parents are well known in their community and have huge celebrations each year that they invite the entire class to."

"Sounds like my mother," Draco said under his breath to Theo and Pansy.

"Yeah, but doesn't sound nearly as dreadful," Pansy muttered back to him, Theo held back a chuckle.

"I'm sorry Drake, but Pans is right, holidays at your house are as fun as bamboo shoots under your nails," Theo concurred.

With this Draco threw an elbow into Theo's side, and whispered, "Wanker!" to which Pansy and Theo both snickered. He had to smile, he knew they were right, holidays at his house were stiff, boring and full of anything but holiday spirit.

"Okay, so, I will let you get settled. Lunch will be in the cafeteria downstairs. Your roommates can show you around and help get you ready. See you all later." Their new headmistress, or dean as she was called here, left the dorm.

The Hogwarts students looked around nervously.

"Okay, so glad this isn't awkward, or anything," the boy named Jake said out loud with a chuckle. "How about we all get to know each other."

"Jake just wants to know which of you is easy," Kate offered with a grin and her fellow students laughed.

"Yeah, well Kate is just upset because we already know how easy she is," Jake said without hesitation.

"Oh, darling, as easy as I am, I'm still not easy enough to get into your bed. No matter how much you wish it weren't so."

Jake laughed again, "Whatever Kate, you know you love me. Have a seat guys, we won't bite, I swear, not a werewolf among us."

Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Harry gave a short laugh. Tears welled in Hermione's eyes, memories of Lupin still fresh in her mind, she blinked them back and sat down on a sofa. Ginny sat by her feet with Harry sitting on the arm. Neville unable to decide where to go just sat on the floor next to Ginny. Draco sat down in a comfortable looking arm chair. Pansy went to sit in his lap, but when he saw what she was doing, he stood up and gave her his seat with a gentlemanly wave and went to stand against the nearby wall.

Theo stood next to him and chuckled. "Smooth Drake," he smirked. Pansy had heard him and scowled.

"Well let's introduce ourselves, I'm Jake, I'm 17 and…"

"And he's an alcoholic," Kate piped up with a smirk.

"No dear, I do not attend meetings. I'm just happy with a drink in my hands," he smirked back.

She grinned back and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Ah Kate, don't stick your tongue out unless you plan on using it," he wagged his finger at her with a raised eyebrow.

She laughed, "Maybe if you learn what to do with your own tongue, then we'll see about that."

Hermione couldn't help herself, she let out an appreciative laugh and brought a hand to her mouth, blushing. "So sad that he doesn't know already. How come you haven't taught him Kate?" she asked with a shy smile.

Kate grinned at Hermione, glad to have another participant in her banter with Jake.

"Really Granger? What would you know about that?" Pansy said with a tight smile.

"I'd bet quite a bit actually, she is _Hermione_ after all" Ginny spat at her with her own smirk, "Just because it wasn't all over the castle like _some_ slaggy snake, doesn't mean…"

"Doesn't mean what?! You filthy little…"

"Pansy!" Draco straightened up and grabbed her arm, "Knock it off, we just got here. Stop picking a fight with Granger! The past is the past, bloody well leave it there," he glowered. Making eye contact with each of his Hogwarts classmates; the unspoken agreement to never speak of the war was clear.

"It means you're a two bit _who_ …" Ginny started, still red in the face with anger.

"Ginny, come on, let it go," Harry said, for once, agreeing with Draco.

"Whoa, what dimension did we land in?" Theo said out loud, trying to ease the tension. "Potter and Malfoy are the calm ones and Granger, Weaslette and Parkinson are the ones at each other's throats."

The WAM students just sat there and watched the exchange between the group in mild interest.

"Who do you think would win in a duel?" Jake theatre whispered to Sarah.

All the Hogwarts students looked at him. Harry, Ginny, and Neville chorused, "Hermione". Draco and Theo answered, "Granger". Hermione smirked at Pansy who turned red with anger and stomped off down the stairs.

"Well, this year will be fun," Jake said with a grin. He got up from his seat and walked down the hall. "Come on guys, I'll show you where your stuff is."

"Okay, I will take the girls to see their rooms, and we'll meet you all back here," Sarah said to her friends as they all started to move towards their rooms.

Harry, Neville, and Theo followed Jake and the other boys to their dorms giving Hermione's hand a reassuring squeeze before leaving her.

Walking up to the Hogwarts girls their guide introduced herself, "I'm Sarah, I'll be rooming with Hermione." Hermione took a breath and smiled at her, "Come on, I will take you to your rooms," she started down the corridor, Hermione followed after her with Ginny in her wake.

Draco sighed and went down the stairs to find Pansy. He was used to her dramatics - if someone didn't go after her, she would rage for a week and that was the last thing he and Theo needed. He had noticed that no one looked at them differently here as they did with the Slytherins back home and he'd like to keep it that way. He found her sitting on the bottom of the stairs leading to their level. He sat down next to her and she put her head on his shoulder.

"Everything's changed Drake," Pansy said defeatedly, "Our whole world is gone."

"Yeah it is," Draco told her, "we need to learn a new way of thinking if we want to survive when we get home."

He put an arm around her waist, she was one of his best friends and his girlfriend during fourth year. They broke up because he didn't feel the same way about her as she did about him, though she was always up for a shag if he wanted. That was not very often since before 6th year. He just had too much going on in his life and Pansy was not a great distraction anymore.

"Why did you come?" Draco asked, genuinely curious.

To him, Pansy had seemed like the type to just take the pass handed out to those who fought during the war. Clearly his facial expression said as much because Pansy pushed him away with a huff. "I didn't feel like I deserved the pass the ministry gave me," she said with heat. "All I did was sit around and watch as my friends signed their life away to that swiving animal and try to keep my head down," she finished, looking ashamed.

"Pans…" Draco started, but paused, considering his words carefully. "Do you really think you could have stopped us?" he asked gently. "Do you really think you could have stopped _me_?"

When she looked up with tears in her eyes, he could see that's exactly what she thought.

"Pansy," Draco said, demanding her undivided attention. "You could not have stopped me from taking the Dark Mark. That arse was living in my house. He had my _mother_. I couldn't leave her there, I had to protect her. Even if that meant signing my life over to The D-" he stopped. "Voldemort," he finished.

Pansy looked at him, clearly skeptical of his reasoning. Draco sighed, "Alright, look," he hedged, "It's not like I didn't want the power that went along with being part of his inner circle," he said as he looked down at his hands, clenched in his trousers. He unclenched his fists and started rubbing the circulation back through them. _Gods, he hated talking about this._

"I also just wanted my father to be proud of me," he said, shortly. "But that was never going to happen, and I should have known better. The point is Pans, I made my choice - and believe it, or not - you couldn't have done a bloody thing to stop me. Now come on, let's go get settled. Just try and remember, this isn't like home, let's see how everything falls before we strike."

"It's the Slytherin way," Pansy forced a smile, "Self preservation, and all that."

"Damn right."

"I wasn't going to call her a blood traitor Drake," Pansy said standing up and holding her hand out to him, "I was going to call her a filthy little bitch, but I'm not stupid. I know those times are in the past, but she's still a bitch."

Draco laughed grabbing her hand, "I can't fault you there if that is what you think," and they walked back upstairs together.

A/N: We plan on releasing a new chapter every week. We hope you are enjoying the story! Buckle up, the ride is only beginning! J/K/S


	4. Rough Housing

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N:** We'd like to give a couple of shout outs to our reviewers! Thanks for reading, and keep the reviews coming! We should have Chapter 5 up by next week.

LadyParongsny: Classes are in a separate building, and we will elaborate more about the island and such by Chapter 5! Thanks for reading!

iwasbotwp: Who doesn't love fit Neville?! We promise you will love him, but it won't be with Hermione. Sorry!

* * *

 **Chapter 4 ~Rough Housing~**

 **7th Year dorm**

Draco noticed that names were attached to each door. Walking down the hall he saw **D. Malfoy** next to **J. Higgs**. Across from his door was **H. Potter** and **C. McAdams**. _Great, Potter just across the hall,_ he thought _._ Draco really started missing the dungeons of Hogwarts. At least there was distance between him and Potter there. He shook his head and walked through his door and found that J. Higgs was Jake, the spiky haired, blonde, smart mouthed guy wearing white acid washed jeans and a grey v-neck shirt that had been trading barbs with Kate earlier.

"Um, hello," he said nervously, eyeing the boy who held himself with confidence, shoulders at ease, clearly comfortable. He was unsure of himself and it was really starting to piss him off. He was Draco Malfoy for fucks sake, when did he get nervous?

Jake was unpacking his suitcases, he looked up and asked, "Hey, I took this bed over here, that okay?"

"Uh, yeah, it's fine," Draco went over to his trunk and started taking his own clothes out, and putting them in the closet. He turned around and introduced himself, "I'm Malfoy by the way, Draco Malfoy."

"Yeah, I figured as much."

Draco froze. "I beg your pardon?" _Oh Gods, how did he know about me already?_ he thought with a lump in his throat.

"Your name is on the door," Jake laughed. "I mean, your last name of course."

"Oh, yeah, of course," Draco grinned, remembering that he just saw it. "Sorry, we don't have rooms like this at Hogwarts. All the blokes in our house share one room, so this is a bit odd for me."

"No problem," Jake replied finishing up. "Do you need help unpacking the rest of your stuff?"

"No, I usually leave my school books and such in the trunk until I need them."

"Hey Jake! Think fast!" a voice proceeded a brown, odd shaped object that came flying through the door.

Draco ducked, and had his wand out of his pocket in mere seconds. He was about to curse the object when Jake caught the ball.

Looking at him quizzically, but still impressed at the speed of his draw, Jake tossed it in the air, "It's just a football Draco, no harm."

Feeling a bit thick, and pocketing his wand, Draco shrugged nonchalantly, "Of course, just a bit on edge I suppose."

"No problem."

"Jake, you finished? Let's go play catch and see how long it takes the girls to yell at us about throwing the ball indoors," the new guy looked through the door. "Hey, I'm Chris. I'm across the hall, do you want to come play?"

"Um, no, that's ok. I'm going to find Theo first and meet you all in the common room?" Draco questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure. Okay. Hey Harry, you coming? Let's see how much damage we can do before we get yelled at," Chris yelled across the hall with a mischievous grin.

"Uh, yeah, is this like rugby?" Harry asked coming out of his room.

"Rugby? Um, no, we're just tossing the ball around the room. We have to go outside if we want to actually play, but since we're waiting on the girls, we're just tossing it for now. Do you two know what football is?"

"Um, I've seen a football, but it doesn't look like that," Harry confessed.

"What?! Oh you mean soccer?" Jake said with a laugh. "I forgot you guys don't play football in Europe. This," Jake threw the ball in the air and caught it, "is a football and while the sport is fun in itself, around here it's more fun to rile up the girls who think we're going to break stuff."

The boys started laughing and walked out to the common area. Chris showed Harry how to throw a spiral and they all stood in different corners of the room playing catch. Harry threw the ball to Jake, but it soared past him and into the girl's hall. They heard a splat and an, "Ow!" Blood drained from Harry's face as the three boys ran to the hall. Hermione was sprawled out on the floor holding her nose. Blood was gushing down her face.

"Hermione!" Harry cried, "I'm so sorry, it was all my fault!"

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU THROWING BALLS INDOORS?! YOU INSOLENT ARSE," she shrieked standing up & brandishing her wand. "IF I EVER CATCH YOU THROWING BALLS INSIDE AGAIN I WILL MAKE SURE YOU HAVE NONE TO PLAY WITH!" and she stomped away going into the bathroom to _episkey_ her nose.

"Dude, your girlfriend is uptight," Chris said looking at Harry warily.

"Oh, she's not his girlfriend," Ginny chuckled leaning on the door frame right next to Harry. "She's his best friend, but she _will_ hurt him. Harry, I hope you didn't break her nose, or she'll break your…"

"Geeze Potter, what did you do to Granger to get her knickers in such a twist," Theo asked coming down the hallway with a grin, Draco right behind him. "I don't think I've ever heard her swear like that and I haven't heard her yell like that since she punched Draco in the face third year. Mind you, she is dead sexy when she's riled up. Too bad she ruins it by talking so damn much."

"Shut it Theo," Draco said uncomfortable, though he couldn't figure out why.

Hermione appeared from the bathroom completely clean. Her eyes narrowed in on Theo, "I heard that Nott and if I were you, I'd ask Malfoy how it felt when I punched him in the face. My aim is a lot better now."

"Okay, Granger, I'm sorry. Just poking fun at our dear Potter, no need to get violent," he brought both hands up in a sign of surrender and smiled. "Unless you like it rough, then I'd be happy to oblige."

Hermione scoffed, "I'm not pure enough for you Nott, better go find Pansy. I seem to recall walking in on Pansy and you in our sixth year? That's when I stopped using the prefects bath."

"You shagged Pansy?" Draco asked looking over at his friend with an arched brow.

"Just the once," shrugging and turning away from his friend, "wasn't a big deal."

"She sounded like a dying kitten," Hermione closed her eyes, and shuddered at the mental image.

Ginny started laughing and after a minute, so did Harry. Hermione looked around; she had forgotten she was in the middle of the girls hall. If Pansy had heard she didn't come out to retaliate. She blushed, realizing she had said some mean things about a fellow student in front of a couple of the new students. _What a lovely first impression_ , she thought. First the outburst in the common room and now confirming that Pansy really is a slag. She shook her head and went to the common area. Sitting on the end of a sofa, she pulled her legs up to her chest.

Harry came over, using his wand, he cast a healing charm over her nose where there was a purple bruise forming. "Do you need to see the healer 'Mione? I'm so sorry, you're right, no more throwing indoors."

"Technically it was my fault," Jake said sitting next to her, a little closer than she was used to from someone she didn't know. "I didn't catch it."

"No, I'm fine. Thank you for the healing charm, Harry. It feels better, but I swear, next time I will hex you like Snatchers caught us, you will be unrecognizable."

He laughed, "That might be an improvement," he knelt next to her and gave her a hug.

"Are you sure you two aren't together?" Jake asked confused. Both of you act very cozy to be 'just' friends."

Ginny laughed, "Try being his actual girlfriend."

Hermione scowled at Ginny. The red head lifted her eyebrow, "Oh you know what I mean. I know nothing ever happened between you two, but as close as you are... It was hard not to think that something might have happened, last year at the very least."

"Nothing happened!" Both Harry and Hermione exclaimed simultaneously.

"Methinks thou dost protest too much," Draco mocked, and everyone but Hermione and Harry laughed.

"We're just friends, have been since we were eleven. Why does everyone assume that we're having some secret love affair? I mean, no offense Harry, but you aren't my type," Hermione stated, agitated.

"What, dark hair, quidditch player?" Ginny said with a laugh, "Oh wait! That is your type."

"That is not!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Viktor Krum," was all Ginny replied.

"Viktor is not my type! He is very sweet, but I hate quidditch…"

"Wait, did you date Viktor Krum?!" Jake asked turning towards her with a bit of awe in his voice.

"I didn't date him, I went _on_ a date with him. Very different statement."

"She was the envy of almost every girl in school, snagging Krum like that. Then after the second task when she came out of the water as the person he would miss the most," Ginny claimed, "Another reason for people to hate her."

"Ginny, whose side are you on?" throwing a pillow at her friend.

"Yours of course, but don't act like no one liked you in school. The only house that didn't like you was Slyth…" Ginny stopped, realizing her mistake and turned as red as her hair. She glanced up at Draco and he looked at her tight lipped before avoiding her gaze looking even paler than normal.

"I never had a problem with Granger," Theo said sitting back in his chair, ignoring the awkwardness that hung in the air like smoke.

"Except for your incessant need to answer every question, get an Outstanding on every test, and generally be a loud mouth swot."

Ginny's room mate came out of their room wearing a way too short black skirt, and a white lacy tank top with her belly button peaking out. Interrupting Hermione's retort she sat next to Jake laying her legs across him, "What are we talking about? I'm Kate by the way."

"How Hermione is a know-it-all and dated an international quidditch star," Chris summarized and sat on the coffee table.

"Oooh," Kate leaned in towards Hermione, long blonde hair falling forwards, "Which one?"

"Viktor Krum," Ginny told her.

"Oooh, he's very hot, I'm impressed, when was this?"

"Fours years ago during the TriWizard Tournament," Hermione said letting out a huff. "We only went out once, he took me to the Yule Ball. That was it and that is the end of this conversation."

"But I have questions… Detailed questions…" Kate whined, climbing over Jake's lap and sitting on him to get closer to Hermione.

Hermione laughed, "Maybe I'll answer them one day, but for now, can we just go to lunch or something?"

"Fine," Kate grumbled, moving Jake's hand that was dangerously close to hem of her skirt, "Sorry Jakey, I'm not that drunk yet."

"Are we supposed to wear our robes... er… uniforms for lunch?" Ginny asked Kate.

"No, not on the weekends, or at dinner. Once classes are over you can wear whatever you want."

"Gin, we should try on our uniforms, see if they fit. We haven't even seen them yet," Hermione explained to the others. "Wait for us Harry?"

"We'll all be waiting. The group of us decided, we're staying together today to show you all around and make you feel welcome. God, my mother is rubbing off on me, I think I'll have to take a shower," Kate shivered at the thought.

Hermione and Ginny went to their rooms to try on their uniforms.

"I wouldn't mind if your mother rubbed off on me Katey, she's hot," Chris smirked.

"Ew, you're disgusting! That is my mother you're talking about! Besides, my father keeps her plenty happy. Thank Merlin I can do magic at home now. If I have to hear them fucking any more I may become celibate. I don't mind sex, in fact I love it, but hearing your mother and father grunting out their orgasms, it's enough to make you batty."

"Don't you live in a mansion?" Jake asked with a chuckle.

"YES! Apparently there was a shortage in supplies when they built it! Everything echoes. Whenever my parents are home, I make myself scarce to keep the bad images at bay." She looked around and saw everyone staring at her. She grinned, unashamed and moved off Jake's lap back to her seat on the sofa.

Chris chuckled, "You'll have to excuse Kate, she has the affliction where she just says whatever pops into her brain, no matter how disturbing."

"I think that's called being honest, Chris, not an affliction," she pointed out.

"Needless to say, it is sometimes shocking."

"Just wait til Thanksgiving and you hear my mother say she's thankful for my father's massive cock, then tell me if I'm just being shocking," she mocked. The Hogwarts boys sat there with opened mouths and she laughed.

"Ginny!" Hermione squealed in genuine alarm, "Didn't we send exact measurements for our uniforms?" Everyone heard Hermione call from the hallway, "There is no way this is mine!"

Harry walked over to the hall and looked down, "Whoa!"

Hermione was standing there at Ginny's door in a green plaid, pleated skirt that was just inches from the apple of her bottom, a pair of white knee socks and a black fitted and collared short sleeved shirt. Ginny walked out of her room, "We did, yes, but mine doesn't fit much better." She was in a pair of shorts that showed off her long legs and the same top as Hermione.

"What are we going to do!? Classes start tomorrow!" Hermione complained, very aware that Harry was staring at them, "Does it look awful Harry?"

Harry had no words that would come to mind and decided that a simple shake of the head was all he was capable of.

"Come out here you two, and let me see. I'm sure you look fine!" Kate said with a knowing grin.

"It's too short," Hermione began to pout as she walked to the common area without her shoes.

Kate started to laugh, "What are you talking about? That's the same length as the rest of ours."

"It is?! How is it appropriate for class? I can't even sit down without my arse hanging out."

Sarah walked out of the bathroom wearing a brick red rube top, a long blue jean skirt and black platform flip flops and looked around, fiddling with her long, black necklace and freeing it from the short brown hair that swung freely around her shoulders, "Are we playing dress up? Because I've got some outfits we can really have some fun in…" seeing the appalled looks on the girls faces she started to laugh, "I'm just kidding… well sort of… but seriously, what's wrong?"

"Wow, Granger, who would have thought you looked like that under your robes," Theo was shocked at the body that Hermione had hidden for years.

"Shut it, Theo," Draco stated, earning him a quizzical glance from his friend.

"That is what is wrong," Hermione pointed at Theo who started to laugh while Draco elbowed him in the ribs.

"What, Granger? You look fine, much better than those sodding awful jumpers you're always wearing," Draco chuckled.

"Was that a compliment in the middle of an insult? Stop being nice to me, you're freaking me out, and stop staring at my arse! Maybe I can transfigure it a bit longer," Hermione proposed, tapping a finger on her lip and eyeing her hemline curiously.

"Sorry, it can't be done," Sarah giggled. "They put a special charm on the material as it's being made so it can't be transfigured shorter, or longer for that matter."

"Someone tried to transfigure it shorter?" Ginny asked in awe, "How can this get any shorter?"

"You would be surprised," Chris said raising his eyebrows and grinning lecherously. "This is California, everything can be shorter.

"I'm not sure those shorts could be Chris," Kate interrupted gesturing to what amounted to Chris' out of school uniform, denim cut off shorts and a black muscle shirt.

"Can it, Kate!" comfortable with his fashion choices, then gesturing to the other girls he said, "You'll see, we have some fun plans for you guys." He shared a smirk with Jake, Kate, and Sarah.

"Oh yeah, we have to give you a proper American experience," Sarah told them. "Are you two going to wear your uniforms? You don't have to today, you know."

"No, I'm going to go change back into clothing that _fits_. I'll have to get used to this I guess," Hermione shrugged doubtfully.

"Granger, if the skirts are that short, we all have to get used to it," Theo smirked. "But I'm sure it won't take me long."

"Hmm, I think that's what I heard around the castle!" Hermione grinned and walked back to her room.

"I kind of like it…" Ginny put in, turning to look at herself in a mirror.

"You would!" Hermione retorted in complete disbelief. Ginny started laughing and walked back to her own room.

Everyone started gathering back in the common area while the girls changed and they all made their way down the stairs to the cafeteria.

The WAM students made their way to a group of tables, and the Hogwarts students followed them and sat down together. The room was already full of students eating their lunch. A few students came over and said hello.

A tall boy with wavy, chestnut brown hair, bright green eyes and a kind smile behind a smart set of dark framed eyeglasses came up and sat down across from Hermione, "Hi, I'm Ben. I'm in seventh year too, but had a late start today. I just got here a few minutes ago."

"Do you not all come to school at the same time?" Hermione asked confused.

"No, we all come throughout the day. I had a family emergency this morning so I had to apparate."

"Ben! We set for camping in a couple weeks?" Chris interrupted, as he grabbed a plate magically filled with a sandwich, fruit, and salad.

"Not yet, I have to get a few things sorted first..."

"Aww man, I really wanted to race!"

"What are you racing, brooms?" Draco asked, intrigued, leaning forward to talk to his new school mates.

"Brooms? No, much more fun than that," Jake grinned. "We started a car club of sorts. We all go camping in the mountains and drag race. It's a muggle thing, but the rush is amazing."

"Cars? You all drive?" Hermione asked surprised. "Not many wizards would think to drive cars when they could apparate, or floo."

"Of course we do, there is more to life than what the wizarding world offers," Sarah sitting down and started eating her salad. "Did you think we just flew brooms, or something?"

"Well maybe not brooms, but where we're from, wizards usually stick to themselves," Ginny answered, stabbing a piece of fruit and sticking it in her mouth.

"But that just limits us way too much," Kate said rolling her eyes. "We have way too much fun to worry about that. I'm sure you'll love it, if you like flying this will be fun."

Harry started laughing, "Hermione hates flying."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "Maybe I hate flying, but I love driving. I've got my license, I used to drive during the summer. It's fun."

"You're muggle born then?" Kate asked with a smile, "Good, this will be a fun year."

"Do you guys race motorbikes as well?" Hermione asked leaning in towards Kate. She had seen a couple as they were making their way to the dock to board the ferry and it looked like fun. At the mention of motorbikes, Neville's head shot up from his food.

"Bikes? Like motorcycles? Um... yeah, I have one," Chris said with a gleam in his eye. "You want go for a ride this weekend?" he asked with interest.

"Yes!" she said, rather loudly, "I've always wanted to ride one," she added more quietly with a faint blush.

"Does it fly?" Ginny asked with a smirk looking at Harry and remembering Sirius' flying motorbike that was currently still in pieces in her dad's shed.

"Fly? Like a broom? No, but it sure does go fast," Chris smiled proudly.

"You can't go fast in the city Chris, too many people, too many hills. Wait til we go camping," Kate said.

"We're going camping?" Pansy asked sitting next to Chris, "What exactly does that entail?"

Hermione tried to picture Pansy sleeping in a tent and cooking mushroom caps and started to giggle, she caught Harry's eye and he began to chuckle as well.

"Please tell me we don't have... to... eat... mush...rooms," he said, trying to suppress a laugh, but failing miserably between laughs. Hermione giggled even harder.

"I'm never eating another bloody mushroom for the rest of my life!" Hermione started picking through her salad and finding one, she speared it and threw it at Harry laughing until she had tears in her eyes. Harry saw what it was and put his head down, his shoulders shaking.

"What's with mushrooms?" Kate asked.

"Harry and I went camping once and lost all our food, so we had to scavenge and only came up with mushrooms," Hermione explained once she calmed down.

"Hermione can't cook to save her life," Harry accused with a red face.

"Hey! You're still alive, I think I did ok with what you found."

"Yes, 'Mione, I survived, but barely," with that she stuck her tongue out at her best friend.

"Hey! That tongue thing applies to everyone, don't stick it out unless you plan on using it," Jake wagged his finger at Hermione.

"I do plan on it," picking up her sandwich. She felt all eyes on her and grinned, "How do you think you eat your food?"

"Lame joke," Jake complained, rolling his eyes, as the others sniggered.

"I thought it was pretty funny, you should have seen all the eyes at the table get bigger just wondering what she was going to do with that sandwich," Kate laughed and eyed Hermione appreciatively.

"Anyways, who is going camping?" Pansy asked, ignoring Hermione and her tongue.

"We are, all of us. The seventh years usually go on group activities during the weekends. We were supposed to go camping at the end of the month, but I don't have everything I need. I'm Ben by the way," he held out his hand. Pansy just looked at it and placed the tips of her fingers in his hand. He grabbed it and shook it. Draco started to laugh, mouth full of food, knowing she meant for him to kiss her hand, not shake it.

Chris reached across the table and stole an apple of Kate's plate, "What are we missing for the trip Ben?"

"Um, we need another camper. With the new students the one we usually use isn't big enough," Ben replied taking a bite of his sandwich.

Kate stared at him with her mouth open, "You're kidding right Benny?" He looked confused. "You're not kidding… Ben, are you a wizard or not!? Cast an undetectable extension charm on that baby and let's go camping."

"I can't do that charm! It blows up every time I try and I would really rather not explode!"

"I can do it," Hermione casually opened her beaded bag, stood up and stuck her arm all the way to her armpit and pulled out a book.

Kate grinned, "I knew I would like you! Okay, get ready bitches, we're going camping!" and she bit into her sandwich. Eyeing Hermione and Ginny, Kate looked thoughtfully at Sarah and said, "After we go shopping and spruce up your wardrobes a bit."

Hermione glanced at Ginny with a frown, then finally looked over at Kate and smiled smugly, she really liked the seventh years at this school. This may be a very good year.


	5. Heroism

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

* * *

 **Chapter 5 ~Heroism~**

 **Downtown San Francisco**

As had been determined in the lunch room, Hermione and Ginny needed a wardrobe update, and so they found themselves the following weekend being reluctantly chaperoned by Kate and Sarah and an even more reluctant Pansy, into downtown San Francisco to some of the natives favorite clothing stores. As they moved throughout the city, Ginny and Pansy were both completely awed by their surroundings. The buildings rose so high on all sides that they were both craning their necks to take it all in. They were so busy taking in their surroundings, that Pansy hadn't noticed that she had drifted into the street into the path of an oncoming streetcar. She screamed wildly, as Kate reached out and grabbed her arm pulling her back to safety.

"Geez, have you guys really never seen a muggle city before?" Kate asked shaking her head incredulously. "You guys have really got to get your shit together here, or you're going to draw attention."

"How the hell am I supposed to get my shite together with all of _this_ going on..." Ginny asked admiring a street performer, and a guy beat boxing on the corner.

"You stick your nose slightly in the air, and walk around like you own the place," Kate replied, doing just that.

"How far is it?" Pansy whined, looking vaguely frightened.

"We're here!" Sarah said with a grin. 'Here' as it turned out, was the Westfield San Francisco Centre and the biggest mall Hermione had ever seen. When they walked in, the three Hogwarts students were completely dumbstruck at the sheer number of stores. Not to mention the beautiful domed ceiling with glass paneling allowing them to see through to the crystal blue sky, and the sunlight from what was a truly spectacular San Francisco morning permeate the air. People were bustling to, and fro, carrying multi colored bags, drinking coffee, and attending to sticky faced children. Pansy and Ginny were both completely transfixed on the escalators that Hermione, Kate and Sarah had made their way towards.

"What the _fuck_ is that?" Pansy whispered loudly, agitated.

"I don't fucking know, why are you asking me? I'm just as pureblood as you are and have no idea what the _hell_ is going on!" Ginny spat, clearly worried but not wanting to show just how much in front of Pansy.

Hermione, having looked back to speak with Ginny, looked down from the escalator and started giggling. Having evidently sussed out the problem, she called ahead to Sarah and Kate asking them to wait, and then made her way across the catwalk toward the down escalator.

"Pansy, Ginny… problem?" she asked innocently. Pansy and Ginny scowled.

"I'm not getting on that thing until you tell me what it does," Ginny stated firmly.

"Me either," Pansy agreed.

Hermione thought it tactful not to mention that the girls were, for the first time in their lives, in complete agreement about something.

"It's a moving metal staircase, that transports you to the floor above. Surely moving staircases shouldn't be out of your particular wheelhouses?" grinning at the pair of unenthusiastic witches.

Pansy hadn't taken her eyes off of the muggles who were all using the devices with complete ease; without fear, or dismemberment, and evidently decided that if they could do it, so could she. She looked at Ginny with a smirk that clearly read, "I'm ready when you are," and both girls walked carefully toward the escalator and stepped on the first step, grabbing the railings for dear life. Hermione boarded behind them, trying to suppress her laughter for the sake of their pride.

At the top of the escalator, once Pansy and Ginny had dismounted with minimal incident, Kate and Sarah met them, shaking their heads in disbelief.

"We're really have to go back to basics with you two aren't we…?" Kate asked snidely.

"Sod off," Pansy spat, irked at having made a fool of herself.

"What's next?" Ginny asked, clearly in the spirit of the adventure now that she had conquered the escalator.

"What do you think Sarah? Nordstrom, or Bloomie's?" Kate asked with pursed lips, tapping her fingertips on the red vinyl clutch she was holding. It matched the red patent leather platform sandals to accent the cream capris pants, and matching crop top she was wearing. _She looks like something off a runway_ Hermione thought to herself, with just a trickle of envy.

"Nordstroms," Sarah said decisively, "We need to work them up to Bloomie's."

"Yeah? Not just, you know, rip off the band aid, jump right into the deep end, sort of thing?"

"Are you kidding? Just look at them," she said gesturing towards the girls, but looking at Hermione.

"Hey, I know both Nordstrom's and Bloomingdales, but my budget doesn't have me shopping there very often," Hermione defended herself, bristling at the innocent ribbing.

"Clearly," Kate said, laughing, "That's what daddy's plastic is for!" She pulled out a black credit card and waved it under their noses. "My dad does a lot of business dealings in the muggle world, so he has a separate account for muggle money, and gave me a card should I ever need any 'necessities'. How he thinks I could ever spend $15,000 on what _he_ thinks are necessities, is beyond me, but it sure is nice to buy the things that _I_ need. Like Dolce… and Prada…"

Hermione shrugged uncomfortably, used to paying her own way. Sarah caught the gesture and the look on her face saying, "Don't argue, she'll only buy you more things. Kate's dad dotes on her, and has never once questioned her purchases. Let her spoil you, it's how she shows affection, and shopping is like chocolate to her; take it away and she gets bitchy."

"I heard that Sarah! But she's right, I enjoy shopping for people, and if wizarding fashion wasn't so _fucking_ terrible, and my mother wouldn't die of shame," she added as an afterthought, "I'd be a personal shopper to the masses for the rest of my days. Hang on ladies, you're in for the ride of your life!"

Heading into Nordstrom's, Sarah and Kate immediately began plucking garments off the racks like plucking petals off a flower. They'd hold them up to either Hermione or Ginny evaluating size and color, then either stuff the garment in question into their arms, or put it back on the rack. Sarah had turned to give a suggestion to Pansy, only to discover that she had disappeared somewhere amongst the racks. Satisfied that they had enough garments to start trying on outfits, Kate ushered Hermione and Ginny back toward the change rooms while Sarah stopped at the accessory wall to pick out the appropriate purses, jewelry and sunglasses.

Hermione found herself shoved into a change room with a black patent leather, tube top dress she swore she'd seen on Posh Spice, and an outfit consisting of a short, argyle, blue and white pleated skirt, a light blue collared shirt, a maroon sweater vest and a pair of white knee high socks and coordinating Mary Janes. Deciding to try on the least intimidating outfit first, she came out of the room wearing the skirt, shirt and sweater vest.

"Decent," Kate twirling her finger indicating Hermione should do a slow circle so she could examine the outfit from every angle.

"The sweater vest makes it too rigid, and too like our school uniforms. Ditch it Hermione," Sarah ordered, starting to tug it up from her waist.

"I can get dressed by myself thanks," Hermione said primly, moving to take off the sweater vest. Once she had it off, she looked in the mirror. _Not bad_ , she thought to herself, liking that at least the shirt was modest. Kate came to stand in front of her, pursing her lips, thinking to herself.

"What's missing?" she asked, looking at Sarah.

"Cleavage," Sarah responded, unbuttoning the top two buttons on Hermione's shirt.

"What!?" Hermione practically screeched, holding the lapels of her shirt together, while Kate batted her hands away. Finally subdued, Hermione was forced to look at herself in the mirror with the adjustments Kate and Sarah had made and she had to admit, the gentle swell of her breasts over the top of her shirt added a little bit of sex appeal.

At this point, Ginny left her dressing room wearing a grey and white plaid skirt, a white crop top that showed a generous amount of midsection, and a matching grey cardigan with a flash of white feathers at the wrist. She put a leg up on the bench next to Sarah and started putting on the grey thigh high stockings that Sarah had picked out for her.

"Am I doing this right?" Ginny asked, frowning down and adjusting her thigh highs. Sarah swallowed audibly and said, slightly breathless, "Oh yeah, you're doing it right."

Ginny looked up, confused. Sarah wouldn't meet her eye as she walked back to hand Hermione a necklace for her outfit.

Suddenly, the third change room door opened, and out walked Pansy. Kate, Sarah, Hermione and Ginny all wore matching looks of complete and utter shock when they took in the incredibly short leopard print skirt, black v-neck crop top similar to Ginny's and the thigh high, leather, 'come fuck me' boots.

"Now this is what I'm talking about," Pansy said, strutting toward the mirror.

"I am not worthy," Kate said, making a show of bowing down in Pansy's honor.

"Seriously, that is _perfect_!" Sarah said, still gawking at her outfit.

Hermione glanced down at her outfit and asked, "Kate? Try again, I'd like to go… bigger."

"Oh, I'm so proud! Wait here…" she said, disappearing into the racks.

* * *

 **Wizarding Academy of Magic**

With the girls gone shopping, and the rest of the boys engaging in a round robin wizards chess tournament which Neville was rubbish at, he decided to finish up his lunch and told the group he wanted to walk around and explore. Neville wandered off, leaving the front door of the dorm and venturing out amongst the other buildings. He saw the cliffs and remembered their arrival when Ginny had nearly toppled over. Grimacing, he elected to move farther into the island, glad for the red and gold gryffindor jumper he'd thrown over top of his t-shirt and muggle jeans. The grounds were surprisingly lush considering how much salty pacific ocean spray seemed to permeate the air as waves crashed into the side of the island. _They must use a repelling charm of some sort,_ he thought to himself. Feeling the magic in the air he tried to figure out how the groundskeepers could possibly grow anything in this environment as he looked at the trees, bushes and charming spray of wildflowers sprouting everywhere around him.

As he rounded the corner, he saw the telltale glass panelling that signified he had found the greenhouse. _Excellent,_ he thought to himself, as he plotted the quickest route between it and the dorms for future reference. It was located just off of the main building, so it wouldn't take him long to get there from any of his classes, or the dorm. This was handy considering he was planning on spending most of his time here. He was really interested to see some of the local magical flora and perhaps even nick a few cuttings to bring back home.

He opened the door and breathed in the familiar scent of dragon dung. Walking around marvelling at the number of plant specimens they had neatly lined up in tidy rows, he was distracted by a row of something called _Maleficus Mentula_ , thinking _that plant looks oddly like a bloke's pe-_ when a strangled gurgle interrupted his thoughts. Instincts on instant high alert, Neville drew his wand, lowered into a crouch and started scanning the greenhouse. His pulse was hammering in his head, but his thoughts were clear. He needed to find out where that noise was coming from, and who was hurt because that noise had clearly come from a human. Rounding the end of the row, Neville stumbled upon a girl who had clearly been bitten by the venomous tentacula plant she was trying to get seeds from. Quickly, Neville cast a stasis charm over her wound and levitated her back to the main building calling for the school nurse for help, for anybody to help.

Jake heard him screaming and came running into the front foyer, Harry on his heels. "Oh my gods, Jess!" he breathed. "What the fuck happened!?" he demanded.

"She was stung by a venomous tentacula while trying to prune it! She needs a blood thinning potion immediately. Where is the medical wing?" Neville demanded tersely.

Jake, not one to be bullied started to ask, "Who the hell do you think…"

Harry put a hand on his shoulder, cautiously, and said very calmly, "Trust him. There isn't anyone who knows more about magical plants than Neville. He saved my life with one."

Jake, slowly nodding gave Neville directions. They arrived in the medical wing and Neville spotted the medicine cabinet. Without sparing a look for the school nurse, or asking for an invitation, he quickly began rummaging through the cabinet looking for the blood thinning potion.

"Excuse me? Excuse me, young man! Who the hell are you and what are you doing to my cabinet…?" the nurse yelled, clearly irritated at his violation of her organized stockpile of medicinal remedies. She reached out to pull him away and Neville swung around, wand drawn with a stone cold glare on his face, "Touch me again, and that girl will _die._ " He turned around and went back to his search. Harry and Jake, who hadn't been able to keep up with a frantic Neville, arrived at this point looking anxiously between Neville and the school nurse.

"HA!" Neville yelled, while turning and uncorking a potion phial. He tipped its contents into Jess' mouth, sat back and waited. It was the most anxious ten minutes of his entire life, punctuated by the arrival of the girls back from their shopping trip, the rest of the seventh year class, and a clearly distraught Dean. Things were reaching their boiling point when Jess drew a deep, gasping breath and opened her eyes on a moan.

"Oh thank Merlin. _Finite Incantatem_ ," Neville whispered to remove the stasis charm on her wound and left the room. He completely ignored the astonished stares of everyone present.

"What happened? Where am I?" Jess asked, looking around. "And _who_ was _that_?"

Neville made his way to his dorm room trying to keep it together. None of his friends followed him up, for which he was eternally grateful as he closed his bedroom door. He lay down on the bed and tried to control his breathing. _I nearly lost another one,_ he thought as he maintained a rhythm - in one-two, out one-two-three. _I can't believe I nearly lost another one_. Neville had spent so long trying to keep everyone safe, and still so many had died. Lupin, Tonks, Colin…Fred. The only reason he'd come on this trip was to make sure that everyone who'd come, got home safe. The way he figured it, McGonagall had the Hogwarts students under wraps at the castle, but sending Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Draco, Theo and Pansy to America? By themselves? They needed him, whether they knew it or not.

He had thought he was safe from prying eyes and pesky questions until he heard a soft rapping at his door. Neville closed his eyes, prayed for calm and that his hands wouldn't shake before opening the door.

A petite, strawberry blonde with eyes the color of toffee stared at him from the other side of the doorway.

"Hi," Neville said, shortly. He didn't know why this girl was here, he didn't want to answer any questions. He just wanted to be left alone.

"Hi!" she replied, completely undaunted by the cold greeting she had received. She walked past him into the room, and sat on his bed, fiddling with the silver bangles on her wrist. "I guess I should start with… thanks."

It was only then that Neville registered the black polka dot sundress hugging her slim, curvy body, the red swelling on her neck. The same red swelling that had practically stopped his heart when he found her, the same curvy body he'd been holding, lifeless in his arms a short while ago. It was only then that Neville recognized the pretty girl, _woman_ , he corrected himself, as Jess, the girl he had just saved. As this realization dawned on him, Neville lost his steely grip on whatever control he'd managed to regain between the medical wing and his dorm room. He closed the door and sat down suddenly, bracing himself against it, putting his head between his knees. Jess was on the floor beside him in a second, rubbing his back and telling him to breathe. When the panic attack had subsided, Neville looked up and tried to avoid looking Jess in the eye.

"Sorry, bad reaction to adrenaline I guess," he hedged, trying to be nonchalant about the whole thing.

Jess put her hand under his chin and forced him to look her in the eye. Whatever she saw there made her tilt her head, appraising. "I think not. I think you've got some damage under there Longbottom. It's Neville Longbottom, right?"

Neville flinched backward, jerking his chin out of her grasp. He rose and turned away from her.

"Don't worry," Jess reassured. "I'm not going to ask about it. I just wanted to let you know, you don't have to pretend. You don't have to lie to me - you saved my life, it's the least I can offer you in return," she quietly made her way to Neville's side, put her hand on his shoulder and waited. When he met her eyes and nodded, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek before turning, and exiting his room.


	6. Confessions

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

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 **Chapter 6 ~Confessions~**

 **7th year Common Room**

 _Running through the woods. Chased, screaming, tripping; where is Harry? Where is Ron? Panic! Binding hands, taken… "LIAR! Tell me where is is?!" Pain, so much pain…_

Hermione woke with a gasp, breathing coming hard and fast just like it had then. Shuddering, and trying to wash the memories from her mind, she rubbed her eyes. _I thought I had a handle on that one_ she thought, trying to remember the last time she'd relived that particular hell. The nightmares were common, but that particular one was one she'd sought help for; it was the first and biggest demon she'd needed to exorcise when the war ended. Sighing, she got up and put her new black, silk robe over the white tank top and pink pajama shorts, deciding to head to the common area. She knew from experience she wasn't going to close her eyes again anytime soon.

" _Lumos,"_ she whispered, padding down the hallway and hoping for a cup of tea.

Surprised to see the common area wasn't empty she stopped at the end of the hallway.

Draco, clad in what looked to be a pair of well fitted blue and bottle green pajama pants and a black t-shirt, sat in one of the chairs with a book in his lap and cup of tea in his hands. He noticed her then, "Couldn't sleep," he explained, shrugging to answer her silent question.

"Uh, me either, do you mind if I join you?" she asked hesitantly.

He didn't reply, but gestured towards the teapot on the coffee table.

Pouring a cup, she felt herself, for once in her life, out of words. How does one sit quietly sipping tea, next to the man who had witnessed the very event that gave her the nightmare she had been woken from? What was she supposed to say to this boy, this man, across from her? How could she let go of the visions of her dream that roamed over her eyes just moments before when a man that witnessed them, and did nothing, was there? Her skin prickled with unease, but as she looked up and noticed him observing her, she suddenly calmed.

"You have bad dreams, too?" he whispered.

Eyes wide, she nodded, "Almost every time I close my eyes. It's not always the same, and it's not every night, but sometimes if I can't shut my brain off before bed, they just come at me."

Eyes unfocused as some of those images made their way to the front of her mind, she blinked and looked up. She noticed he had a similar look to him and she wondered, _How did he know?_ _How did he he even put that together. Does he have them too? Is he haunted by the past? By, even, what happened to me?_ _Surely not_ , she assured herself, shaking her head slightly.

He remained quiet and so did she. A few moments passed, until Draco sat forward having taken something from between the arm of the chair and the cushion. It was a hip flask, and he tilted it toward her in silent permission. When she nodded, he added a healthy dollop of liquid to the cup of tea she held in her hands. Taking a small breath, inhaling the scents swirling up in the delicate steam of her tea she detected the honeyed notes of a well aged Scotch whiskey. Raising a quizzical brow at his choice, she took a reluctant sip. The warm, bergamot notes of the earl grey mixed quite well with the smokey after notes of the whiskey, and the pleasant fire in her belly seemed to ground her. She smiled and gave him a small nod of thanks, tucking her feet underneath her and settling into her spot on the couch. After a while, the tremors of her nightmare faded and she grew curious watching as he absently scratched his forearm, "Malfoy, what did you do to your mark?"

He stiffened at her question and stilled his movements, hating that his actions betrayed his thoughts. He hadn't even realized he'd been scratching at the spot where his mark stood, "Glamoured it. What did you do to your… Uh, your mark?"

Heaving a sigh, Hermione raised her eyes to his, "I glamoured it too." Pausing, she continued, "Do you ever wish you could just get rid of it?"

"Of course," he spat somewhat short. Taking a deep breath, "You know," he began softly, "You know, I'm really… I just couldn't… It's not like I wanted... Whatever." He shook himself slightly, grimacing, "I should be getting to bed. Night Granger."

Hermione felt an odd sense of disappointment as he stood and walked a few paces towards the boys hallway, "Wait, please, don't leave just yet. I don't think I can go to bed, and I don't really want to be by myself right now."

Surprised she'd ask him, even confess the vulnerability, he returned and sat next to her on the couch. They sat in silence for awhile, Draco apparently reading the book while Hermione battled her demons back inside the box in her mind.

"Do you dream about him?" Hermione blurted out of nowhere.

"Yes," he responded, startled into a moment of unbridled honesty.

"I don't," she said quietly. "I thought I would, I mean. He was at the epicentre of it all and he was a damned scary bloke…" Another moment passed in silence, a clock chiming the hour.

"What do you dream of?" he asked quickly, quietly, as if he didn't want to ask, but couldn't help himself and was afraid of her answer.

She paused, thinking, before she looked him in the eye and whispered, "I dream of her." Hermione smoothed her hand over her forearm where he knew the scar must lie beneath the glamour.

He met her eye and nodded once, quick, giving her silent permission to continue.

"I'm always running, panicked, trying to figure a way out. I'm Hermione _fucking_ Granger for Merlin's sake, but I can't figure a way out," she said, looking frustrated and ashamed. "And then they're just… there. They grab us, and I throw a stinging hex at Harry thinking at least I'll have given him time," she continued. "The fear though, that's what sticks with you - the taste of it, like a mouth full of pennies, the way it it makes your mind clear and the pain recede. The way it shows you every possibility of what's to come…," she trailed off, eyes unfocused, clearly remembering exactly which possibilities her mind had provided in the heat of battle. "I never thought of what happened though, isn't that interesting? With all of the horrible, twisted things your brain can come up with, it never quite comes close to the truth. It never could have shown me her, or what she would do to me."

Draco's mouth was dry, and his knuckles were white as he clutched the book in his hands. He didn't think he could listen anymore. What she didn't know was that this was the stuff of his nightmares too. That this particular nightmare all too often made its appearance in his bed at night. He squared his shoulders and waited. Waited for her to finish - it was the least he could do considering his inaction on the night in question. _May the telling give her peace_ , he thought.

"You know, there's a point when you're… going through something like that…" she glanced sideways at him. "When you're just glad it will be over soon. I had that moment, but even then I wasn't glad that it would be over for me per se. I was glad that I hadn't given her anything; that by keeping my mouth shut I was somehow keeping Ron and Harry safe," she said with a ghastly half smile. "I felt like it was my gift to them…," she finished.

Draco sat, astonished, and frankly quite angry. "Your gift to them. _Gift?_ " he quietly responded.

Hermione, confused, looked up and saw the dangerous look on his face, "What?" she asked flinching from the anger written all over his frame.

"Your _gift_ to them was keeping their stupid asses _alive_!" he said angrily. "You shunted them around the country for months, evading the strongest wizard ever known with nothing but your memories, wit and defensive wards. You were _seventeen_ for Merlin's sake! You didn't owe them a goddamn thing Hermione, and they hadn't _earned_ that _gift_ you were giving them," he finished, breath heaving.

Hermione, shocked at his outburst to say the least, stayed silent as Draco put his cup of tea in the sink and walked toward the hallway. At the last moment, Draco turned and asked, "Hermione?"

Hermione whirled, having never heard him use her given name, and raised a brow quizzically, wondering what more he could possibly have to say.

"Our dreams are mostly the same," he murmured, confessing, and returned toward her handing her the book in his hands. The same book Harry had given her late that evening after everyone had gone to bed. He'd known she didn't like to make a fuss about her birthday, and Kate would have made them celebrate if she'd known. "Happy Birthday Hermione," he said quietly, leaving her with nothing but a cold cup of tea, her thoughts and the book, still warm from his hands.


	7. Fun With Brooms

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

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 **Chapter 7 ~ Fun With Brooms ~  
**

 **7th Year Common Area**

After her late night encounter with Draco, Hermione decided it was time to focus on her studies. At least when she was distracted the nightmares were less, and she was far less likely to end up having midnight confessions with the Slytherin Prince. Staring around the common area she smiled, catching sight of Harry scribbling on what appeared to be actual _homework_ , and he hadn't even so much as asked for a spell check since they arrived. He really seemed to be trying to complete this year on his own, stand on his own two feet. She couldn't help but be a little bit proud.

Classes at WAM were just about the same as any classes at Hogwarts, though a little more intense. They had Transfiguration, Potions, and Charms, but they also had new, or modified subjects like American History of Magic, and Transmogrification which was basically a combination of complex transfiguration and arithmancy. The professors were tough, but fair, which was a bit of a switch from the Hogwarts system since the house system led to some teachers showing favoritism to their own houses in an attempt to win the House Cup. The kids were laid back, and the weather was nice almost all the time - the biggest switch of all, as Scotland really could be dreary. All in all, it was a pretty good first couple of weeks.

Harry had to admit, he was enjoying his seventh year at Western Academy. He was happy Hermione had talked him into it. After all, he had just finished his potions essay, in time, for the first time in his illustrious academic career. Turned out he wasn't crap at potions when he didn't have Snape looming over his shoulder waiting to call him a halfwit. _What do you know_? he thought smiling, thinking of his old potions master. He never thought there would be a time when he could remember the man fondly, but he couldn't deny the role Severus Snape had had in his upbringing.

He was sitting in the common area, pondering his past, when Ben, Chris and Jake came over and sat down.

"Harry want to go play broomball?" Ben asked throwing a football in the air.

"What the hell is broomball?"

"Oh, excellent, more fresh blood!" Chris exclaimed with a fist pump.

"It's like football, but on brooms," Jake answered, making a quelling gesture in Chris' direction lest he scare Harry out of it. "We need a couple more guys to play. It's sixth year against seventh year. It's basically quidditch, but without bludgers and closer to the ground, so no one will get too injured because we're allowed to tackle each other," he finished quickly, clearly excited. "Ms. Carter made us put cushioning charms all over the field," he added, seeing the look of unease on Harry's face at the mention of tackling.

"All the guys are playing, even Neville," Chris chimed in with a grin, trying to convince Harry to join them.

"How on earth did you get Neville to play?" Harry questioned, completely surprised.

"Told him we needed him to," Chris shrugged, standing up. "Come on."

Ginny and Hermione were walking in as the four boys were walking out. "Where are you guys going?" Hermione asked.

"Going to play broomball. Want to come watch, and cheer us on?" Chris responded, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Maybe a little later, I need to get some things finished if we're going to go camping this weekend," Hermione replied, walking to the table and dropping her bag on it.

Jake grabbed her around the waist and put her over his shoulder, "Hey! Jake, let me down! I have things to do!" she squealed indignantly.

"Nope, you're coming with me, no more studying. You make the rest of us look bad." He cast a look at Hermione's partner and said, "Ginny, put your stuff down and follow us out or Ben will carry you out too."

At this, Ben stepped up next to her, crowding her space and making it very clear that he would do exactly as Jake had suggested he would, "Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Ginny put her hands up in mock defeat.

"Not yet," Jake quipped, "but give Benny some time at least…" he finished with a devilish grin.

Ben groaned. "Do you have to be such a crass troglodyte Jake?" he said with some heat.

"If I knew what that was, I'm sure I'd have an appropriate answer to that question. As it is, I don't have a fucking clue what a _crass troglodyte_ is," Jake said, clearly unconcerned.

Ginny was trying her best to stifle a laugh, but just couldn't when she saw the look of utter resignation on Ben's face. When she finally gained control she turned to Jake with a smile, and he returned it with a wink.

Hermione on the other hand, was just sincerely glad she had decided to wear pants rather than her uniform skirt before she headed out to the library earlier. There would be no decency if she was wearing her skirt being carried over Jake's shoulder like a sack of flour. "If I promise to walk with you guys, will you put me down?" she bartered, trying to negotiate her freedom.

"Nope, because I don't trust you," and he started walking down the stairs.

Harry started laughing as he walked, Hermione's head at eye level. She put her elbow on Jake's back, rested her chin on it and growled at Harry. Jake started laughing at the growl and put her down when he got to the landing. "Okay Hermione, you can walk now, but the guys have been told to catch you if you try to… what is it you British people say?" he asked, screwing up his face in concentration. "Do a runner!" he exclaimed proudly.

"Yes, very good. I should hex you, but since I don't think it would slow you down any, I will go with," Hermione said aloofly.

They all walked out of the building to the grassy area next to it. Draco, Theo and Neville were all there waiting. Kate, Pansy, Ellen and Sarah were all sitting under a tree when the group of seventh years reached the grass. The sixth years were standing there waiting to start the game, talking trash as Harry, Jake, Ben and Chris got to the other boys.

"Hey geniuses," Kate called out to her fellow seventh years, "How are you going to play broomball without… brooms? You forgot to bring them down with you."

Jake turned and looked at the girls with a grin, he brought up his wand and said, " _Accio_ broomstick!" and the other boys followed suit.

Harry's Firebolt 2 came flying out first; he had gotten it as a gift from the ministry for defeating Voldemort. In general, Harry had refused any gifts of 'thank you' for his acts during the war, but a Firebolt 2 was too difficult to pass up. "Afterall, who does it hurt for me to have a faster broom?" Harry had reasoned when Kingsley had shown up at the Burrow with the gift. Hermione snorted as she remembered the loose logic he'd used to defend accepting it. The broom in question was now hurtling through the air towards him, and he leaped up, jumped on it mid stream and did a loop around the field.

"Bloody show off," Hermione chuckled and rolled her eyes from her seat under the tree. She had the same broom, though why they gave her one was beyond her. She never used it, but she did pack it.

"Neville," Hermione called out when she realized that he was missing a broom, "Do you need a broom? I actually brought mine along."

"You have a broom Granger?" Draco called in surprise. "I seem to recall you hate flying," he sniggered.

Hermione rolled her eyes again and waved her wand, " _Accio_ broomstick," she called and watched as her own Firebolt 2 came flying out of the dormitory window and flew right to her side. She grabbed it and walked over to Neville to give it to him.

The other boys were practically drooling over the brand new racing broom once she handed it over.

"How do you and Harry have those?" Chris asked in awe.

"They were a gift from the manufacturer," Hermione lied, blushing slightly, "but I don't fly so it's never been used."

"You don't fly but you have the best racing broom in the world? Why?" Ben asked curiously.

She laughed, "Because dragons are stubborn," catching Harry's eye with a grin.

"Hermione I can't ride on this, you know I'm a terrible flyer. I can use a school broom. At least there's no chance of my owing you like a million galleons once I break it," Neville said handing it back to her, secretly looking like he'd like to give it a shot and sneaking a side glance at Jess who he knew would be watching the game.

Hermione smiled, knowing exactly what Neville was thinking and pushed the broom back into his arms. "Neville, there is no one I trust more with it than you, except for maybe Harry and Ginny," she continued with confidence. "I'm sure you've improved since first year," whispering so only he could hear.

"Thanks Hermione, but if I crash, don't say I didn't warn you," Neville murmured quietly and laughed.

"I'll take that chance," Hermione chuckled and walked back over to the girls.

After a few minutes of explaining the rules the boys began to play their game. Within fifteen minutes the seventh years were ahead on points and Kate started snickering. She elbowed Sarah and pointed at Jake. Sarah and Jess glanced up and started laughing and shaking their heads.

"What?" Ginny asked eyeing the three friends laughing at their private joke.

"Jake is cheating," Kate said quietly, so only the seventh year girls could hear. "You can see him casting a wandless wall charm on the guys, so when a sixth year hits them they can't pull them off their broom."

Hermione looked up and narrowed her eyes and grinned evilly. "Well that isn't very nice. Let's just even things up a little bit, shall we?" she asked, looking at her American counterparts. When Sarah and Jess looked amused, and Kate nodded enthusiastically, she pointed her hand at a sixth year boy who was racing the ball towards Chris and Harry, both who looked like they were going to grab him. She flicked her wrist and whispered, " _Levigatus._ " The boys launched themselves at the sixth year, and promptly slid right down to the ground. Hermione started chuckling as the sixth year made it over the goal line.

"What was that?" Sarah asked intrigued.

Hermione laughed louder as Harry and Chris stood up and collected their brooms confused about what just happened.

"It's a little spell I thought up my sixth year," she whispered to the girls. "It gives the target a silky smooth, almost lubricated feel but not greasy. It was meant for other uses, but this may make the game a little more fun," Hermione chuckled, clearly pleased with herself.

She pointed at another boy that was being chased by Draco and Theo. Flicking her wrist as they both grabbed hold and both boys slithered down to the ground with a thud.

Kate, Sarah, Ginny, Jess and even Pansy looked at each other with wide eyes and started laughing.

"I can't believe you are beating them at their own cheating arse game," Ginny said with admiration in her voice. "You have to teach me that spell! Hey… why do you need a lubrication spell?" Ginny asked, eying her best friend with interest.

Hermione's face flushed with color, "It comes in _handy_ , that's all I'm saying."

Ginny gaped at Hermione, clearly reevaluating what she may, or may not know about her friend. Kate wiggled closer and demanded that she teach them the spell.

Inspired by Hermione's boldness, the girls took it in turns to cast Hermione's spell, as well as the wall charm that Ginny had insisted Kate show them. They were really picking up steam as Jess cast a variation of the impedimenta jinx on Neville that caused him to slow down just enough that the sixth year he was chasing glided unchallenged over the goal line.

"Oh, too clever Jess!" Hermione whispered gleefully. The boys were becoming more and more frustrated with each other as the sixth years pulled farther and farther ahead on the scoreboard, which only caused more and more laughter from the girls.

After the third time Draco fell to the ground when attempting a mid-air tackle on a sixth year, he got up and brushed off the grass from his shirt looking extremely irritated.

Just before remounting his own broom, a shrill bout of laughter in the direction of the trees made him turn his head. Hermione was sitting in the group of girls with her hand in the air pointing at Harry. She flicked her wrist and Draco turned just in time to see Harry hit the ground after trying to catch one of the sixth years.

He turned his head back to Hermione and caught her eye, she turned slightly pink, but continued laughing along with the rest of the seventh years.

 _That little cheating…_ he thought with a huff and a small grin staring at her.

Hermione sent him a shy smile and he shook his head turning away from her, the grin on his own face slowly spreading into a full blown smile. He got back on his broom and that smile turned a little bit evil as he started to think of ways he could make her pay for all the times he hit the ground today. He also wanted to find out what the hell that spell was.

* * *

 **7th Year Common Area**

"Remember, you are to return to the school Sunday evening, no later than 9PM," Ms. Carter reminded her 7th year students as they were preparing to portkey out for their weekend. "Sarah, since your parents are hosting the class this weekend, it is up to you to be sure that everyone gets back to school on time."

Sarah shook her head seriously, "Yes Ms. Carter, my parents are aware of when we are supposed to arrive back at school."

"Okay then, I hope you all have a good weekend, stay out of trouble and send an owl if anything should come up," Ms. Carter smiled at her students and walked out of the room.

Hermione stood there looking at the piece of rope that was their portkey and was slightly confused.

"Ben, I thought we are going…"

"Shh…" Ben brought his hand to her mouth, "We'll explain when we get there, now there is only one minute till we leave, everyone grab a piece of the rope."

It was about a yard long, but it was still crowded as there were thirteen students going on the trip. Everyone grabbed a portion of the rope and a minute later, that familiar tug behind the navel pulled them all away from Western Academy. They all landed in the backyard of a magnificent two story, brick home. The lush gardens were teaming full of life of late summer vegetables, and early fall blooms.

Sarah put the rope in her bag, turned and said, "Welcome to my home," gesturing grandly at the building behind her.

"I thought we were camping this weekend?" Ginny asked confused looking around.

"We are," Ben replied with a chuckle, "But we can't just ask for permission to take off to the mountain range to race cars, bikes, and get drunk now can we? Sarah's father is some sort of global go-getter, or something, so he's never home. Her stepmother is a ditz and will sign anything Sarah wants as long as she doesn't actually come home for the weekends. So, we get permission to visit here, or whosoever home is empty that weekend and then we disapparate to our actual destination." _Clearly this was his idea_ , Ginny thought with a chuckle as Ben smiled proudly.

"I will be back, I need to restock our supply," Sarah stated, swinging a bag over her head, and walking to the back door of the home letting herself in.

"Sarah's dad has a huge selection of booze," Kate explained.

"Prodigious," Ben corrected. "The word you're looking for is 'a _prodigious_ selection of booze'. I don't think I've seen that many different bottles of wine, beer and liquor outside of a liquor store. Some of them aren't even _sold_ in the US!" eyes wide in wonderment.

Hermione couldn't help but think that this probably said something about Sarah's home life. Or at the very least that her father, or stepmother might have a drinking problem, but decided to keep the observation to herself. _Don't look a gift hippogriff in the mouth_ , she thought.

A few moments later, Sarah reappeared full bag in hand. "Okay, let's go before the stepmonster from hell appears," hastily moving towards the entrance.

Each WAM student grabbed the arm of a Hogwart's student and with a _pop!_ They all vanished from the yard appearing within steps of each other in front of a giant recreational vehicle parked in front of another house.

"Where are we now?" Pansy asked looking up at large two-story cream colored house with a terra cotta roof. "This is like a three act play…" she complained.

"This seems like a lot of work for a weekend," Hermione had to agree.

"We're at my Uncle's vacation home outside Diablo Range," Ben answered. My family keeps our RV and some of the toys here. We're not actually camping, unless you want to? I figured we'd stay here tonight, get supplies for the RV and then tomorrow morning we'll go play in the mountain range. We can either camp tomorrow night, or come back and hang out at the house. I wasn't sure if you guys were up for roughing it for a couple days, so this is the alternative for this weekend."

"Let's stay here tonight," Kate said. "Hermione still needs to charm the RV and there's a pool here." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Okay, who wants to go with me to the store to get supplies?" Chris asked, eyeing Hermione speculatively.

"I'll go," Sarah said, "Ginny, come with us."

"Um, ok," Ginny said looking at her friends. She had only ever been in cars with her family.

Sarah handed the bag over to Jake, "Don't drink everything while we're gone, it's supposed to last the weekend, alchie." Chris looked vaguely disappointed about his choice of companions, but shrugged and left with the girls.

Jake laughed and nodded his head in agreement, "No worries, just one bottle till you get back," he called to her retreating form.

While they were gone, Hermione set off to charm the RV while the others got changed to get in the pool. She was trying to concentrate when the sounds of splashing and laughter permeated the air. Someone had also put on some muggle music and she could hear the beat of the bass in the ground. Trying to tune out the noise she tried to focus her magic, but there were just too many distractions. Getting mad, she turned to the house and entered the backyard through the side gate. Everyone was either in the pool, or drinking at the edge of it.

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP! I WOULD RATHER NOT EXPLODE WHILE DOING THIS!" she bellowed over the music.

Waving her wand at the cd player, then over her classmates she silenced both of them. She took a deep breath and then said calmly, "Thank you. Now I will lift the charm in just a minute, but I am trying to perform a bit of complicated magic involving a vehicle full of fuel, so if you would _please_ , shut the fuck up, or we will all explode if I get it wrong." Without another word, she turned, waved her wand again with a quick " _finite!"_ and walked out of the gate.

The Hogwarts students all gaped after Hermione, not at all used to Hermione using such foul language. Harry chuckled at last from the side of the pool, breaking some of the tension at Hermione's outburst. "I think she wants us to turn it down just a touch," and everyone snickered.

"I HEARD THAT HARRY POTTER!" she yelled from the front of the house to bouts of renewed laughter.

A half hour later Ginny, Sarah, and Chris came back from the store and Jake started up the grill to make the burgers they bought. Ginny went to check on Hermione's progress and ten minutes later they both came back to the pool.

"Okay, it's done," Hermione said with a smile taking the butterbeer Harry handed her. "Sorry about earlier," she said a little sheepishly, "But I had to make sure I did the incantation just so, or seriously we would have blown up."

"No problem," Ben said with a grin, he took her drink from her, "But now that you're done, I think you need to cool off." With that he grabbed her and jumped into the pool.

Swimming back to the surface, Hermione let out a growl of frustration and turned to see her friends laughing at her. As Ben surfaced with a grin on his face, she splashed him in the face with a 'Hrumph' and started to laugh.

"You are a bloody arsehole Ben!" she screamed with a laugh. "You couldn't have waited until I was wearing a swimsuit?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"What fun would that be?" Ben laughed, still clothed as well.

Harry was sitting with his legs in the water next to Kate laughing at the two of them. Hermione raised an eyebrow and when he looked away, she swam up to him. She lifted herself up on the edge grabbed his arm, and yanked him in fully clothed.

"Hermione! What the bloody hell was that for?" Harry demanded, sputtering.

"Laughing at me you bloody prat," she smiled as she tried to pull herself out. This was slightly difficult as her clothes now weighed twice as much. An arm extended to help her up and she took it graciously. Looking up she saw the face of Draco Malfoy staring down, his steely grey eyes meeting hers. _Why is he looking at me like that?_ she thought, staring back at him quizzically. Draco turned his gaze almost immediately.

"Thank you," she said surprised that he would help her. "I'm going to change out of these wet things before dinner."

"Just put on a swimsuit," Kate called with a chuckle, "We're staying out here all night."

Hermione nodded and grabbed Ginny, so she could change as well.

When Hermione and Ginny returned, Sarah looked around with a devious grin, "Alright kiddies, who's on for a game of Truth or Dare?"

The Hogwarts kids all looked at each other carefully, Neville frowning in obvious disapproval of this idea.

"How would it work?" Harry asked carefully, meeting Hermione's eyes and trying to gauge how she was feeling about this.

"You'll see!" Kate said grinning and nodding her approval of Sarah's suggestion. _This is going to get interesting,_ she thought.


	8. Poolside Bonding

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N - Triggers:** If you don't like smut, we suggest you skip this chapter... and probably the next one too. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 8 - Poolside Bonding**

"Okay, okay, calm down," Sarah chimed in after taking a gulp of her butterbeer. "It's not going to be like the Goblin Inquisition of 1212. Kate will charm us all, so if you pick truth and lie then you will turn a particularly funny color, or pattern until you either tell the truth or take a shot. Okay?"

After getting passive confirmation from the rest of the Hogwarts students, Harry nodded their group assent.

Kate waved her wand over the group that sent a shiver down everyone's back. "Okay, I will start. Harry, truth or dare?"

Harry gulped a bit apprehensive, "Uh… truth."

"Have you ever had a sex dream about Hermione?" Kate's eyes gleamed with mischief.

"Well now that's not fair!" Harry cried out. "Just diving right in there aren't we?"

"That doesn't answer the question," Ginny said with interest. Hermione grabbed her bottle and took a swig.

"Fine, yes I have!" Harry shouted turning red. "But to be fair, it's not like I ever thought to act on it. I'm a guy, I've had dreams about pretty much every girl in school." Everyone laughed.

"Okay, you're boring. My turn," Jake chuckled, "Ginny, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Ginny said with confidence.

"Kiss one girl at this circle... with tongue," Jake winked.

"Bloody hell," Ginny muttered, her face turning as red as her hair.

"You sound like Weasley," Theo laughed.

"I _am_ a Weasley, git," Ginny looked around and caught Hermione's eye.

Hermione just laughed and shook her head. "Not me. That isn't something I want to experience, then have to explain to your mother that I have snogged three of her children, one being her daughter."

"Wait, three? Which of my brothers have you been snogging?!"

"It's not your turn Ginny!" Hermione said, chuckling.

"Answer the question!" Ginny demanded.

"No way! Quit stalling," Hermione deflected, gesturing to the rest of the circle indicating that she should pick who her Dare would involve.

"Fine!" Ginny stood up and stomped over to Sarah, leaned down and kissed her square on the mouth. At first it was just two sets of lips mashed together, then Ginny brought her hand behind Sarah's head and started to pull her forward, into her mouth. Sarah responded by pulling Ginny to her and slightly parting her lips, working together. Ginny, recognizing the invitation, dove her tongue into Sarah's mouth with earnest. This was a new feeling for Ginny, the softness of Sarah's lips were unlike those of Harry's whose lips lacked the fullness that was this girl's. This was easy, this was exciting. Ginny grabbed Sarah's bottom lip with her teeth and heard her exhale as she pulled away. _Holy fuck_ , she thought, her cheeks flushed, red. Sarah smiled faintly and Ginny walked back over to her seat a little dazed.

There was complete silence for a moment after the kiss and then Hermione caught Ginny's eye and started to laugh, "Well done Gin! That's the first quiet moment we've had in a week!"

Everyone started to laugh again and continued the game.

Theo turned a shade of lilac, which Pansy said reminded her of Professor Lockhart's robes from second year, when he lied about how many times he and Pansy had had sex. It didn't matter if he turned a color though, Pansy positively howled when he said, "Just once…" while giving Draco the side eye. Draco's eyebrows shot into his hairline when it became clear this was a lie, and started taking wild guesses as to how many times they'd shagged over the years. Theo kept his mouth shut and took a shot to a chorus of boo's, hisses and vulgar name calling, taking an elbow from Draco in stride and patiently waited to return back to his particular shade of wizard.

Jess earned herself a wild round of applause when she was Dared to give anyone in the circle a lap dance. She made a good show of even choosing her would be recipient until she landed in front of Neville. He glanced up at her, his face unreadable as she straddled his lap and began to move her body against his. By the time she was done, Jess was blushing, the crowd was going wild, and Neville had a distinct tent in his swim trunks that he was desperately trying to rearrange.

Once he'd calmed down some, Neville in turn told everyone, with great theater, the story about the boggart turning into Snape from third year, when asked about one of his most embarrassing memories.

"Holy shit man!" Chris said, shaking his head, "How scary does a teacher have to be to be what shape your boggart takes!?"

The Hogwarts students met each other's eyes and grinned sadly, but it was Draco who finally said, "He was a misunderstood man…" and left it at that.

Finally Kate said, "Hermione, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"How many guys have you slept with?"

"Please, does this include actual sleeping, or just shagging?" she asked practically.

"What's shagging again? Oh yeah, sex. Hmmm, just the juicy stuff please, just sex."

"Eleven," she answered, succinctly, with a completely straight face. Draco and Harry choked on their butterbeer simultaneously, earning Draco a sidelong glance from Theo and Pansy. Ginny thumped Harry on the back. Jake, Chris, and Ben all stared at her with their mouths hanging open while Kate gave her a high five, and Sarah and Jess whispered to one another. The only one who hadn't reacted besides a small smile, was Neville. Almost immediately, Hermione began to turn a particularly complex shade of fuschia, and she started to laugh at the reaction she got from her crowd.

"Did you honestly think I would answer that question?" she asked, glaring around at her school mates. Filling a shot glass with firewhiskey, and taking it down with a gulp she faded from fuchsia to pink to normal.

"Oh, no fair!" Kate whined, clearly irritated at Hermione's flouting of the rules. "I want a do over," she said immediately.

Hermione sighed coming to the realization that she was never going to get out of this game without divulging some of her secrets, Kate wouldn't allow it. "Fine," she huffed, "But don't ask me about sex, I won't answer."

Kate pouted, but thought quickly and smiled. "Have you done _other things_? And with whom?" she asked with an evil laugh, clearly impressed with her work around for Hermione's rule.

Hermione grimaced, but couldn't help but laugh at the pleased and excited look on Kate's face, and admitted, "Yes, I've done _other things._ With Viktor."

Ginny jumped up, "What? You NEVER told me about that! 'Mione, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you have a big mouth, obviously, and you would have told your brother!" Hermione shot back.

"I would never…"

"Ginny, you told Ron about what happened between you and Harry!"

"That was completely different! I was messing around."

"I KNOW, with Harry!"

"Can we stop talking about Potter's sex life?" Draco begged, looking at the darkened sky.

"Okay Malfoy, what about yours? How many girls did you shag all over the castle?" Ginny asked leaning in towards Draco.

He looked over and smirked at her, "Four and it wasn't all over the castle, it was in my bed. I don't fall out of broom cupboards like some people. How 'bout you Red?"

"Two," Ginny smirked back at him.

Hermione laughed, looking back at Draco reminding him, "I found you in a cupboard once during prefect duties Malfoy."

"I wasn't shagging was I, Granger?" He smirked at her, "I was getting head, completely different question."

Hermione couldn't help herself, she began to chuckle. Everyone looked at her surprised, and started to laugh with her.

"How did we get on this topic?" Harry asked after he stopped laughing.

"Viktor Krum," Kate said simply. "I still want an answer! Is he as good with his hands as he is catching a snitch? You gotta love a guy that can close his hands on that tiny little golden ball like it's priceless," Kate smiled with a wink.

Hermione laughed again, really getting into the spirit of the game. Smiling herself, "Yes, he's very good with his hands, very _nimble_."

"Hermione! I don't need to hear about Krum's nimble fingers on my best friend! Talk about giving me nightmares!" Harry shuddered and pushing at her arm, "Thank Merlin you never told me about that before."

"Technically they were more in, not on..." she started, trying to get a rise out of him.

"SHUT UP 'MIONE! Good Godric, I have to stab something sharp into my ear…" Harry cried putting his hands to his head. Hermione laughed at her raven haired friend and took another sip of her butterbeer. She frowned as she swallowed her drink thinking it felt a little bit…. odd.

"What is it about girls talking about sex acts that makes it better than when guys do it?" Theo asked.

"Because we're girls and we have boobs," Granger answered matter of factly.

"Have you done _other things_ with any of my brothers?" Ginny asked curiously.

"I might have."

"Who?"

"I'm not telling you!"

Harry laughed, "I know who."

"Shut it Harry, or I will transfigure your balls into earrings," Hermione threatened.

"Where did this person come from, Granger?" Draco delighted with a chuckle, "I've never seen this side of you. I have to admit, it is extraordinarily fascinating to hear you curse and yell. Especially when it's directed at Potter."

Ginny laughed, "Hermione has two sides to her, the proper Hermione that we all see in school and then there is drunk Hermione who is completely… what is the word for it… evil."

"I can't imagine Granger evil." Theo smirked.

"I'm not evil, I'm creative," Hermione retorted, slurring slightly and looking at her butterbeer.

"Is that what you said when you charmed the parchment for the DA?" Harry snickered.

"Ha! That bitch deserved it," Hermione laughed as Ginny explained the 'sneak' incident to their new friends while leaving out the parts about it being Dumbledore's Army. The Hogwarts kids couldn't help but smirk during this explanation because without the context, it basically sounded like a study group full of overachievers.

"Or what about when you tricked Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest and the centaurs took off with her?" Neville piped up smiling at that memory.

"Is that what happened to her?" Pansy asked with a grin. "Good, she was horrid." All the Gryffindors stared at her. "What? You weren't the only ones that hated that woman. We all did, even the Inquisitorial Squad, we just hid it better than you lot." Theo and Draco both nodded in agreement.

Chris and Ben looked at one another mouthing, "Inquisitorial Squad?" and smirked.

Ginny laughed, "I don't see her so much as a woman, more like a toad in a pink cardigan." All the Hogwarts students laughed in appreciation.

"OKAY!" Kate yelled, clapping her hands to get their attention, "Enough about people we don't know, let's get back to business. Whose turn is it? Oh who am I kidding, it's my turn. Hermione! Truth or Dare?"

Hermione glared at Kate. "Why do you always pick on _me_?" she mumbled, irritated. Kate plopped down next to her, gave her a light punch to the shoulder and said sweetly, "Because you're the only one with a giant stick up your ass and I figured I'd show you how to remove it."

At this point, Hermione tried admirably to toss Kate in the pool to thunderous applause, with Chris and Theo even taking bets on who would win. In the end, Hermione gave up, and resumed her seat in her lounge chair, albeit ungraciously.

"So," Kate said, plopping down in the lounger next to her, breathing heavily with a devilish grin on her face, "Truth or Dare, 'Mione?"

"I don't like you," Hermione pouted.

"You love me!" Kate said with a wink.

"Fine. Truth," Hermione bit out.

"Who are you sexually attracted to in this circle?"

Hermione had no intention of answering this question, _it's juvenile_ she thought. Then that weird feeling she'd had when drinking the butterbeer she'd left on the table returned and she found herself saying, "Chris is good looking in a Jude Law sort of way. Ben isn't my type, but then again I'm not sure I'm his. Harry and Ginny are like my brother and sister, respectively. Pansy is just too much of a bitch for me to get over her pug nose. Theo is _hot_ , but arrogant, so it basically cancels out. Neville is looking tremendously fit, but there's something going on between him and Jess. Sarah and Ginny both clearly have eyes for Jake and I don't do taken men. Draco is by far the most physically attractive person here - the blonde hair, the chiseled cheekbones, broad shoulders, narrow waist… and that arse, I mean come on…" she trailed off, looking mortified.

You could hear a pin drop when she'd finished. _Oh sweet Circe, what I have I done?_ she thought.

The entire circle was silent. Kate looked proud of herself, and was silently applauding Hermione on her confession. Harry looked worried, glancing between Hermione and the rest of their friends. Ginny was too busy trading looks with Jake and Sarah, while Neville and Jess only had eyes for each other. Ben looked confused, and a bit hurt. Chris was puffed out like a peacock evidently having enjoyed being compared to Jude Law. As expected, Theo and Pansy looked irritated, but the real surprise to Hermione was Draco.

He was looking at her with a quiet intensity, his eyes seeming to storm like the thunder clouds they so resembled. _I could drown in those eyes,_ Hermione thought to herself, suddenly followed by _where the hell did_ that _come from?_

Draco made his way over to Hermione, leaned down over her close enough to hear her breath catch and grabbed her butterbeer off the side table. "Enough drinks for you Granger, you're clearly out of your head with it," he said quietly, and took a sip of the drink himself. Hermione nodded, turning her gaze away, blushing furiously.

"Guys… I'm.. so sorry! I.. I.. I have no idea where that came from. I had _no_ intentions of saying any of it…" she finished finally getting it out and worrying her hands together.

Kate took pity on her, "Hermione. You told the truth! There's no harm or foul in that, right guys?" She glared around at everyone.

"Of course not," Jake said, genially. "Especially when you pair me with the likes of Sarah and Ginny," wiggling his eyebrows as the group broke out in nervous laughter.

Hermione looked at Ben, who had appeared the most insulted by her little diatribe, her grief at having upset him written all over her face. To her surprise, he squared his shoulders and smiled at her saying, "Well if we're being honest, let's just say I wouldn't say no to _you_ Hermione, but I would definitely say _yes_ to Theo."

At this, Chris choked on his butterbeer, and Kate gave a whoop of laughter giving him a high five. Theo looked across at Ben with an appraisingly lifted eyebrow, "Interesting…" he said quietly while Pansy gawked at him.

"This whole evening just got incredibly illuminating," Harry said, enlightened.

"None of you are mad at me?" Hermione asked timidly. After a chorus of "Nope!" Hermione relaxed and looked at Draco who gave her a small, private grin and shook his head.

"My turn. Malfoy!" Hermione said suddenly, looking up at him, "Truth or Dare?"

He looked at her for a moment, surprised by her approaching him after that debacle and nervous as to what she would ask him to do, or tell her. Funnily enough, he trusted her after the chagrined confession, so at last he said, "Truth."

"Do you still hate me?" she asked, quietly.

"I never hated you," Draco responded instantly, though he hadn't meant to. "No, it's true," he argued when he heard Harry scoff, and looked at the utter incredulity on Neville and Pansy's face. "I never liked you because I was taught by my parents not to and don't get me wrong, I always hated Weasleby and Potter." Harry raised his bottle in cheers. "But, truthfully, I never really hated you. I hate myself for what was done to you in my home, far more than I could ever hate _you_ ," he finished and grimaced not believing what had just come out of his mouth.

"What do you mean 'what was done to you at my house'?" Chris asked, clearly concerned as he started to move towards Malfoy.

"I meant the day that the Snatchers brou-" Malfoy was cut off by Hermione shoving him hard in the chest, throwing him and his chair into the pool.

"It wasn't your turn to ask a question, Chris," she said simply, daring him to make an issue out of it. A tense silence followed as Draco removed himself from the pool and glared at the empty butterbeer bottle he'd taken from Hermione and looked over at Kate.

"OK, OK, enough Truth or Dare, my friends - shit is getting real. As for my part in this whole mess, I'm going to apologize because I may or may not have charmed the butterbeer you were drinking Hermione," Kate gave an apologetic shrug.

"You did WH-!?" Hermione started, but she never finished as Draco laid a still dripping hand on her shoulder giving her a quick shake of the head, telling her to leave it alone.

"I'm sorry, truly." Kate continued, "I was just trying to loosen you up a little bit, show you that you can be yourself and no one will mind, but you guys clearly have a complicated history that's none of our business. I couldn't have predicted Draco would take your drink, but I should have stopped him before he finished it, so I'll apologize to you as well," nodding at Draco.

"No harm, no foul - as you say?" Draco said with a shrug, returning to towel off at a new lounge chair as his was now at the bottom of the pool.

"For the record Malfoy," Hermione said looking him in the eye. "I never hated you either. I don't know enough about you, other than you're a great big prat," she laughed timidly to which he responded with a weak smile, "But I don't hate you." With those four little words a weight lifted off Draco's shoulders, he was surprised to find out just how much he cared what she thought of him.

"You should," he said simply grabbing a bottle of firewhiskey, pouring some more in his cup and gulping it down with a slight wince.

"Nah," she said grabbing the bottle and taking a swig. "I'm tired of hating people. Does nothing for me, and I've been through too much already. I just want…" she paused, not knowing how to finish that statement. _What did she want?_ Hermione wondered.

"Okay," Kate said, noticing the immediate tension starting to set in again. "Well, this game has taken a turn for the somber. No more dredging up past fuck ups. We are here, in the present, let's just…"

"Live for today?" Hermione interrupted with a smile, catching all of her fellow Hogwarts classmates briefly in the eye. "Our past was shite, let's have some fucking fun this year," Hermione said, waving her bottle with a flourish. _Clearly having this much to drink loosens my tongue_ , Hermione thought marvelling at her own filthy mouth. _I kind of like it though_ , she mused, surprising herself.

With that thought firmly in her mind, Hermione stood up, took another gulp of the firewhiskey and started pulling off her top while walking to the pool revealing a skimpy black and white zebra print bikini with silver trim. "Hey Ginny?" she called to her friend, "I snogged George the summer before sixth year and if Ron finds out I'll kill you. That's a fight I don't need," and she jumped in the pool.

"George? Really? Where was this?" Ginny's questions came flooding out of her mouth as she was stripping off her own top, showing off her buttercup, yellow bikini.

Harry started to laugh as everyone started discarding clothing to follow suit, clearly glad that they were moving on, "At the Burrow. I found them snogging in your room and if I recall there was a lot more than snogging going on."

"Yeah, well, where do you think I made up that spell I was using on the guys earlier," she yelled back with an evil laugh.

"Why did you need lubrication with my… EWW! Hermione Jean Granger, in my _room?!_ With my _BROTHER_?! I'm going to kill George," Ginny fumed.

"Oh and Kate," Hermione called from the pool, "Harry's a seeker, I don't know about how nimble…" she raised her hands and wiggled her fingers around a little with an evil grin.

"Hermione! I'm cutting you off, no more beer for you," Harry cried turning slightly pink. He knew he shouldn't have told Hermione that he fancied Kate.

"Fine with me," Hermione giggled, "Malfoy! Bring over the firewhiskey!" He grabbed the bottle as they all walked over poolside.

"Hey, wait, what spell?" Jake yelled as everyone was laughing at Ginny and Hermione's outburst.

Draco started to laugh in earnest. "The one at the broom ball game?" he asked, glancing at Hermione and watching her flush delicately, nodding.

"What spell at the broom ball game!?" Jake asked, incensed. "Was that why we couldn't tackle those guys? You little cheat," he said, jumping in the pool and making his way toward Hermione.

"We were just evening up the game," Sarah laughed splashing her friends. "We saw you using the wall charm." At this, Jake changed course in the water heading directly for Sarah.

"I should have known! That had Hermione written all over it," Harry grinned, shaking his head.

"Hey Neville!" Jess shouted across the pool. "Weren't you a little _slow_ out there today? I mean, you were riding a Firebolt 2, and you couldn't even catch that sixth year making a straight shot for the end zone on a Cleansweep?" she teased.

"Well, flying isn't exactly a strong suit of mine…" he trailed off as he noticed her giggling. "Wait a second!" he said, making his way in her direction. "Did you spell me you little _witch?_ " he asked as he caught her around the waist and tossed her in the deep end, already suspecting her answer. When her face broke the water and she was still laughing, Neville ditched his shirt and cannon balled right next to her, drenching her all over again.

"Don't look at me like that Harry. Malfoy caught me doing it and didn't tell you," Hermione grinned at Draco.

"Thanks Granger, just throw me under the The Knight Bus," Draco complained, laughing.

His face seemed softer than it used to, she noticed. It wasn't as rigid as it normally was when he talked to her over the years. She thought back to her earlier confession and had to admit that she had always thought he was handsome. No one at Hogwarts could deny that Draco Malfoy, with his alabaster skin and almost white blond hair was anything less than beautiful. It was always his attitude and his opinion of muggleborns that was the problem, but since being in California, he hadn't said one thing against muggleborns. He hadn't said anything negative about her at all actually, or Harry for that matter. He had even smiled at her several times that day without it becoming a sneer.

"I can't believe you did that," Ginny huffed, pretending to be upset about their earlier conversation. "What would Ron have said if he caught you?"

"He would have pitched a fit, called me foul names and then George would have kicked his arse. Then he would have ignored me even more until he hooked up with Lavender, that foul little slag."

Harry laughed, "Are you still jealous of Lavender?"

"No," Hermione rolled her eyes, "I was never jealous of her." When Ginny looked nonplussed with this claim, Hermione relented, "Okay fine! I was for about a minute, but I knew she had shagged just about everyone and suddenly, I wasn't so jealous anymore."

"Who else did she shag?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Blaise," Pansy laughed.

"To be fair Pans," Theo countered, "Blaise would have shagged just about anyone, as well. He pretty much shagged the entire year, except for Hermione and that was only because he couldn't get her alone."

Hermione shuddered, "Ugh, I would never shag Blaise; I wouldn't even snog him. I've caught him in too many broom cupboards with too many different girls. I'm not that kind of girl."

"Yeah, she's the kind of girl that doesn't get caught," Harry called out.

All of the sudden, Sarah screamed and disappeared under water. She came up spluttering, and glared at Jake who had also appeared grinning like a jackal. "What was _that_ for?" Sarah asked heatedly. "Broomball," Jake answered succinctly.

At this, all hell broke loose with each team retaliating for a perceived slight. Harry dunked Kate, who in turned grabbed his ankle and pulled him under with her. Neville held onto the edge of the pool in a corner, watching all of the play until Jess upended a bucket of water over his head. "Oh, game _on_ woman!" he taunted menacingly, swimming after her laughing.

Draco, who hadn't gotten back in the pool quite yet was sitting in a lounge chair, heavy lidded eyes just watching the somewhat innocent fun going on in the pool. He couldn't help but notice the way Hermione threw her head back as she laughed, or the well toned body inside that skimpy bikini. _Well, who knew?_ Draco thought with a smirk. _Granger has a body, a_ tight _body. When did she get so fit?_ he wondered to himself, sipping a butterbeer. He watched as Granger exited the pool and made her way over to the lounger next to him, smirking at an unconscious Chris who had passed out in a lawn chair next to the pool. She sat, grabbed a discarded bottle of firewhiskey off of the small table between them, poured herself a cup and gave him a silent cheers as she sat back.

The play in the pool seemed to have calmed down, but Draco could see a subtle pairing off happening. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed how the group had split. Ginny was in a close knit circle with Sarah and Jake. _Go Weaslette_ he thought, raising his butterbeer in silent salute. He saw that Kate had cornered Potter in the deep end and he chuckled. Potter looked slightly afraid, but completely mesmerized by the woman in front of him. Draco hoped he knew what to do with a woman like that. Neville was talking to Jess, a little stiff, but clearly intent on the witch in front of him. Ben was lounging at the opposite end of the pool… _Holy shit_ , Draco gaped as he noticed who Theo was snogging at the opposite end from Potter. _Hmmmm_ he thought, _perhaps the little affair between Theo and Pansy hadn't been so brief after all_. He wasn't sure whether he should be irritated, or not, but settled for just taking the mickey out of Theo for it for the next couple of weeks. _Oh yeah_ , he thought to himself, _definitely taking the piss for this one_ , as he watched Ben follow Theo and Pansy behind the pool house with his eyes before heading into the house with what looked like an uncomfortable bulge in his pants.

"I hope that my room isn't near them," Hermione interrupted his musings with a laugh, having evidently seen the unlikely trio. She moved to sit next to him on his lounger. "I would hate to hear the dying kitten tonight. Talk about bringing back my nightmares." Draco started to laugh.

"Malfoy?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Hmm?" He answered still watching the subtle action going on in the pool.

"Do you still hate Harry? You have been acting a lot differently since we got here, and even on the ferry."

"No, I don't suppose I do," Draco replied pulling his attention to the witch beside him. "Well, I meant what I said, I hated them both through school. _Saint Potter_ and his faithful sidekick Weasel, and there was you, who I didn't hate, but didn't exactly like either. But... I don't know what happened, after The Dark Lord came back," he started, looking around to be sure they couldn't be heard. "After what I had to do to keep my mother safe, after I witnessed such horrendous things being done, doing some of them myself…" he paused, thinking. "I couldn't hate the person who brought that reign of terror to an end, could I?" Shrugging, "I mean, I didn't _like_ Potter, but I never wanted him dead, we were just kids. I was just a kid, what was I supposed to do?" He turned to Hermione, expression closed and unreadable, willing her to understand, to forgive him his sins.

She took another sip of her drink, letting what he said sink in, "I understand Draco, I meant what I said earlier. I don't hate you. We _were_ all kids, hell, I still feel like I'm eleven years old waiting to get on the train to school half of the time. We all had to grow up so fast since starting school, we've been through so much shite… deaths… war. I just want this year to be a good one, you know? It's our last and no one knows us here. Look how much has happened in just a couple of weeks? The Slytherin Pureblood Prince, Draco Malfoy, is sitting here and having a peaceful drink with the Gryffindor Princess, the swotty know-it-all, Brains of the Golden Trio, and a mudblood, no less," she paused, and he flinched, though she continued as if he hadn't. "We share the same friends. We've been getting along, all of us. Hell, I haven't even heard one mudblood joke from Pansy, and she hated me. If we were back at Hogwarts, none of this would be happening. It's like this trip, it's so far away from the mess that was our lives, that we are getting a break, you know? I'm relieved." She smiled, "Here… I am not, 'The Chosen One's' friend. Here, I'm just... Hermione Granger."

Draco laughed. "You are Hermione Granger, the swotty know-it-all. That will never change, but I know what you mean. Back home, we would still be at odds. Here it's like a different world, like the rest of it never existed," he finished, absently scratching his arm where his mark would be.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed with a far off look. She looked at the clock that was on the wall on the porch, "Hey guys, it's late, are we getting up early tomorrow to do whatever it is that we're doing?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess we should go to bed," Jake looked over at the clock. "You guys can sleep anywhere, no vomitting on the carpet though!" he said looking directly at Chris. "That shit is a pain in the ass to get out and the smell never goes away, even with magic," he added with a grimace. "Lastly, if anyone is feeling frisky, make sure to put up silencing charms."

"Has anyone seen Pansy, or Theo?" Sarah asked absently, trying to take a head count, but failing miserably.

Hermione and Draco glanced at each other and started to shake with suppressed laughter, "Making use of a silencing charm just now I believe," Draco chuckled with tears in his eyes, holding his side.

"Where's Ben?" Chris asked having finally awoken from his stupor.

At this, Draco and Hermione finally broke, unable to contain themselves.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked.

"NOTHING!" They both answered and walked into the house shaking with giggles to get changed for bed.

* * *

Theo had been eyeing her all night. He didn't know what Sarah and Kate had done to their wardrobe while on that shopping trip in the city, but he'd be thanking Salazar until the end of his days for the clothing Ginny, Hermione, and Pansy had come home with. Especially Pansy. The purple subtly patterned bikini she was wearing now was driving him insane. _Is that snakeskin in the pattern?_ he thought to himself with a groan. Sweet Salazar indeed. He'd tried to pay attention during the game of Truth or Dare and shite had gotten intense there for a minute with Draco and Hermione, but Pansy with her long legs, and voluptuous curves had repeatedly stolen the show. _His_ show. So, when all hell had broken loose in the pool, he found himself moving towards her in the water, like a portkey to it's final destination.

"Hey," he said, coming up behind her and invading her personal space. Pansy whirled around, nearly catching him in the face with her elbow. He caught it, and held it, using it to pull her closer to his body.

"What do _you_ want?" she asked haughtily, though he could see her pupils dilate with absolute lust.

"Round two. Or ten. Who's counting?" he said, nuzzling her ear and running his hand below the water to cup her arse. She pulled her elbow away and pushed him backward a full step. He was surprised; he always seemed to underestimate Pansy and her physical strength, though he never seemed to underestimate her temper, which had evidently flared just now.

"I don't bloody think so," she spat. Only alcohol could explain the look of hurt in her eyes, she never would have allowed it completely sober.

"Why? You know you want me…"

"Because apparently you're too embarrassed by sleeping with me to tell the truth."

"C'mon Pans - did you really want me to air our dirty washing out there in front of everyone? _Draco?_ "

"Theo, I'm not sure if you've caught on to this, but Draco doesn't give a flying _fuck_ who I shag, and he hasn't done since 5th year. _You're_ the one who broke off our little...arrangement, so I don't see why you should be the one to start it up again."

He shrugged, uncomfortable with her hurt feelings, "It's not like you wanted to be a couple Pansy, why are you taking the piss?"

She grimaced and made to move away from him. Theo's eyes widened and his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. _Had she wanted to be a couple?_ he thought to himself, stricken that he had missed it. _How did he_ miss _it?_ he berated himself.

"Pans, wait, don't go," he said, grabbing her by the elbow again.

"Why? You clearly see me the way you always have Theo, and I'm not that girl anymore. I don't think I ever was. I deserve better than a quick shag in a broom cupboard, and then being ignored until you get the itch."

"Hey! _Pansy_!" he held on tight as she tried to get away, and did the only thing he could think of to get her to stop trying to swim away. He kissed her, hard, fast and she felt it down in her toes. She'd tried to get away at first, but when his hands slid down to her sides, and gripped her like he'd never let her go, she opened her mouth on a sigh and he took complete advantage.

The kiss was like the first sip of firewhiskey, it burned right through his gut and settled in his belly, drugging him with its smoothness and intensity. He wanted to do this right though, so he grabbed hold of his desire like he would a vicious dog and wrestled it back, dialing down the kiss until he could put his forehead on hers, panting softly.

"I'm sorry, " he said finally, rubbing his hands up and down her arms, "I didn't know."

She looked at him with heat in her eyes, and a hint of challenge, "Well now you do, so what are you going to do about it?"

"Come with me." He grabbed her hand, laced his fingers with hers and kissed it all the while moving them closer to the stairs. They made a hasty exit, never once noticing Ben's eyes following them toward the pool house. Rounding the corner, completely out of sight of the pool, Theo rounded on her, grabbed her by the waist shoving her roughly against the wall and kissing her senseless. On instinct, she wound her legs around his waist and hooked her heels together around his fantastically toned, bathing suit clad ass and held on for dear life. She took as much as he gave and retaliated in kind, reaching between them to undo the lacing at the front of his bathing suit. Once he was free he didn't waste any time, he pulled aside the fraction of fabric covering her hot, wet center and drove himself inside her, burying himself in one stroke.

" _Muffliato!"_ he murmured with a glance and a quick gesture toward the pool as Pansy's moan drifted from her lips. She arched her back, begging Theo to move, but only succeeding in distracting him with the fantastic display of her breasts straining against the material of her swim suit. Backing up slightly, he reached behind her body, pulled the string that kept her top secure around her tight frame, and breathed an oath of thanks to whatever Gods might be listening when she drew it up and off over her head, throwing it to the side.

Unable to remain still any longer, he started to move, his rhythm slow but strong, exacting. As Pansy started to breathe more quickly, biting her lip to stifle an oath, he bent his head and paid homage to the taut peaks before him, laving them with his tongue, biting them gently, sucking them deep into his mouth. Theo could feel her release building in the small flutters around him and the way she gripped his cock tightly with her body, like she couldn't stand letting him leave. His body took over, driving and plunging into her, hard and fast, gripping her hips and pulling them toward him, the contact of their skin getting louder as he drove them at a furious pace. He wouldn't let go of his steely control over his own release until she'd had hers, he vowed it, but he didn't have long.

"Pansy. _Pansy_ ," he said, punctuating her name with each hard stroke, "Look at me."

She shook her head, not wanting the connection, trying to focus on the thing building inside of her, threatening to shatter her. It was only when Theo growled, that she finally opened her eyes and found herself staring into his honey hazel ones and saw the depth of his feeling there.

"Come for me, Pans," he croaked, his breath harsh from exertion. "Let go, I swear I won't."

It was completely unexpected and it stole her control. When he looked at her with all that emotion in his eyes and all but begged her to trust him, she just couldn't help herself, so she let it go. The orgasm broke from her center and spread like syrup up her spine and down to her toes, leaving her a quivering, stuttering mess, but Theo wasn't done. He held on until she'd felt every last shimmer of her climax, and then with one, two, three final thrusts, he followed her over the cliff and prayed he'd still be in one piece when it was over.


	9. Fast Rides and Mountain Fun

**Disclaimer** : We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N - Triggers** : This chapter is a long, lemony chapter! Enjoy! XOXO

* * *

 **Chapter 9 ~Fast Rides and Mountain Fun~**

Ginny woke up the next morning with severe cotton mouth, and a headache so severe she could feel her heart beating in her temples and behind her eyes. She was wrapped tightly in blue sheets like she had been swept up in a tornado. Brushing her hair off her face, she noticed a lump lying in front of her. _What the hell is that?_ she thought, sitting up a little more to see the curves of a shapely body wrapped in a blanket, brown hair splayed out. She bolted upright when it sank in that the curvy body next to her was that of a completely naked Sarah. Immediately regretting the movement as her head seemed prepared to roll right off of her shoulders, she sank back down and began slowly retreating far from Sarah only to be stopped by something behind her. _What the hell is going on? Where am I? How did I get here?_ She winced as her head started to pound harder with all of the questions floating through her head. She turned her head slightly and saw blonde hair, _Holy Godric, what the hell did I do last night?_ She untangled herself from the sheets as quickly as she could without waking her companions and ran into the ensuite bathroom to throw up.

Vowing right there, hugging the porcelain after several bouts of stomach emptying, she would never drink like that again, she heaved herself up with shaky arms and leaned against the vanity. Slowly, she turned on the tap and began drinking some water to rinse her mouth out and rehydrate. She checked the cabinet behind the mirror, hoping, in vain as it turned out, for some sober up potion, to clear her mind enough to try and piece together the previous evening. _How in Merlin's name did I end up in bed with_ both _of them!?_ Ginny asked herself, racking her brain. Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw an angry looking bruise between the apex of her shoulder and her throat, right where her bra strap would be if she were currently wearing one.

 _The light was twinkling overhead, and Ginny looked up to see what looked like tens of tiny sparklers floating in the air. Jake had his wand held out, and was making a surprisingly intricate series of wand movements, placing more of the sparklers throughout the room. Ginny felt soft lips press on the side of her neck, kissing, sucking and biting. A set of hands came up and cupped her breasts, brushing gently on her hard nipples, squeezing lightly. She felt herself moan softly, and looked up to see Jake coming to her. His eyes heavy, he stripped off the t-shirt revealing hard shoulders, and tight stomach. He reached up, putting a hand on either side of her face and kissed her deeply, then fisting his hands in her hair at the base of her neck, and licking her lips until she opened her mouth and let him in. He plunged his tongue into her mouth exploring thoroughly. One of the hands on her breasts had left, leaving her feeling anguished at the loss, until one of Jake's hands took it's place. The hand that left her breast took up residence at the apex of her thighs, brushing her mound lightly, requesting access. Her legs parted of their own volition, and that soft_ feminine _hand, began stroking her nub, gathering up the wetness it found between her folds and slowly one finger entered her, teasingly, then two fingers making her moan even louder as her head tilted back._

Ginny started from her flash of memory shaking her head to clear the images in her mind. Feeling distinctly hot and bothered, clearly she'd had sexual relations with both Jake _and_ Sarah last night, and had enjoyed it. Thoroughly.

Looking around, she found the shorts and shirt that she had changed out of last night and put them on her nude body, _sans_ knickers, not finding them in her immediate vicinity and wanting to avoid searching for them in the room. Needing more than tap water to fix this nasty hangover and hopefully coax her memory into supplying more of what had transpired the night before, she snuck back to the main room and out to search for the kitchen.

Hermione was sitting at a round kitchen table with several stacks of toast and a giant jug of pumpkin juice. The sight of the orange liquid made Ginny's stomach lurch and seeing the look of sick on Ginny's face, Hermione waved her wand. A little bottle with a pink tinged liquid appeared in front of her, picking it up she threw it at Ginny.

"Drink it, it's sober up potion. It will help with the hangover."

Ginny took the vial and gulped it down. The effects were almost instantaneous, "You are the smartest witch in two continents." Ginny's brain began to subside back into her head. She grabbed a piece of toast and began to munch on it as Hermione giggled at her.

"Is anyone else awake?" Ginny asked warily.

"Yeah, Malfoy is up somewhere, he's already had a potion and I think Ben is getting the vehicles ready." Hermione took a sip of pumpkin juice and looked sideways at her friend, "I was up first and went looking for my bag that I dropped in one of the rooms, so I could change." Hermione started, meeting Ginny in the eye. At the look on Hermione's face, the color that had come back to Ginny's face slowly started to dissipate. "Imagine my surprise when I opened the door of the room we changed in last night to find you, very naked, with both-"

"SHHH!" Ginny said, alarmed, grabbing Hermione's mouth with her hand and spilling toast crumbs down her shirt. "I don't want to talk about it, nor do I want anyone to find out, because I have no idea what happened." She let go of Hermione, pleading,"Let's just pretend it didn't happen, OK?"

Hermione looked at her redheaded friend, "Forget about it? How? The image is permanently etched into my brain forever!" she chuckled, clearly enjoying herself. When Ginny proceeded to look concerned, Hermione sobered up and genuinely looked her friend over, taking out her wand. Hermione cast a couple quick concealment charms, pointing her wand at various visible parts of Ginny's body, causing Ginny to gape at just how much evidence of her encounter there was.

"There," Hermione said, with a final flourish of her wand. "No one will be able to tell a thing, until you want them to," she placed a gentle hand on Ginny's shoulder in comfort. "But Gin? It's nothing to be ashamed of. You like who you like, everything else is just noise."

More relaxed than she'd been since she woke up this morning, Ginny returned to the kitchen table with Hermione and continued eating her toast. "Oh Ginny," Hermione said off handedly, "Next time you might consider putting a locking charm up. Ben was about to go in because that room has the nicest shower and I had to tell him that it was already in use." She smiled at Ginny, "How was it by the way? I've never thought of doing it myself, but I must say Jake is fit." Hermione gave Ginny an appreciative grin.

"How do you know how _fit_ Jake is exactly?" Ginny asked, afraid of the answer.

"I got a slight glance at some of his _assets_ when I walked into the room by accident. I must say he looks as good outside of his trousers as in them, and Sarah? That, I did not see coming, but if that is what you kids are into these days..." Hermione wagged her eyebrows at her best girl friend.

"Hermione!" Ginny groaned, mortified, "I don't remember practically _anything_! I woke up and last night is a complete blur. Just don't tell anyone _please_ , especially not Harry."

Hermione snickered, "I don't think Harry has room to talk, you aren't the only one I walked in on this morning."

Ginny perked up, "Really? Who was Harry with?"

Hermione grinned and jumped up, "Come on," and she grabbed Ginny's hand and they ran into what looked like a media room with a giant television and huge plush sofas. On one of the sofas was Harry and Kate, wrapped in a blanket. Kate was lying slightly on Harry's chest, and the two girls stifled their giggles with their hands.

"Why are you two spying on your friends?" Draco whispered as he walked up behind them.

Ginny jumped and fell backwards into Draco who caught her before she hit the ground. Hermione couldn't stop the laugh that came bubbling up, and Draco seeing the sleeping couple begin to stir, grabbed her and Ginny and propelled them back to the kitchen. Raising an eyebrow at the barely suppressed mirth radiating from the two of them, he eyed the pair of them and asked, "Something funny about Potter having a shag then?"

"Of course not," Ginny said mustering what dignity she could find on behalf of her friend, and ex. " _I_ used to shag him," she pointed out logically. "It's just…" she stopped, blushing slightly and looking back over her shoulder where they'd left the still sleeping pair, "He had a thing about doing it in public," she said giggling. "It doesn't surprise me that they ended up in the _media_ room."

"Something I could have gone my entire life with not knowing and died a happy man," Draco said looking skyward and grimacing slightly, while Hermione gaped, and Ginny burst out laughing again.

"I wonder what was in the air, or the alcohol last night? Everyone seemed to have been having a good time," Ginny commented after she stopped laughing.

"Not everyone, I still slept alone," Hermione grumbled as she recovered from Ginny's confession. "That's kind of depressing now, isn't it? Here I am, in a different country, different rules, and I still sleep alone."

"You're not the only one Granger, I slept alone too," Draco said offhand, not looking too pleased with the fact.

Hermione laughed, "Now that is just perfect. The Slytherin self proclaimed, 'Sex God' slept alone while Harry Potter didn't? What _universe_ am I in?" she teased.

"Hey now," Draco called after her as they walked back to the kitchen where Ben and Neville were both up and eating toast. "It was never 'self proclaimed', there were several girls that can attest to my sexual prowess."

"Yup," Neville said swallowing his toast, and waving his fork, "That's all we heard about all day long, Draco Malfoy and his sexual prowess. Oh wait… that was just Malfoy chuffed with himself."

Ginny and Hermione stood there, mouths open as Neville grinned.

Draco grinned back, "Why, Longbottom made a joke, I'm impressed, I didn't know you had it in you."

"Have we entered another world?" Hermione leaned over and whispered to Ginny. "I've never heard Neville talk like that before."

"A lot changed last year," Ginny whispered back. "It looks good on him."

"You're damn right it does!" Jess said breezing into the room to plant a kiss on Neville's mouth.

Neville, having just swallowed a mouthful of tea, promptly choked, blushing furiously, and had to be pounded on the back by Jess as the rest of the Hogwarts students stood staring at him. Jess looked up and caught the bemused glances of her classmates, looked at Neville's face and became instantly amused, "Neville love, do none of these fine people know that you and I hooked up last night?" At this, Neville turned positively puce, and shook his head furiously, but then he looked up, caught Jess' satisfied smile and the transformation in him was amazing. His shoulders came down from around his ears, and he squared himself. His chest broadened and he sat a little taller as his blush faded and Jess made her way back over to him and put her arm around his shoulders.

"As fun as this banter is," Ben said with a laugh, "It is time to get these slackers up and sober."

"Please, allow me," Hermione said with a glint in her eye and a smirk on her lips. She put her wand to her throat and whispered, ' _Sonorus_ '. Suddenly her voice was magically amplified by a factor of ten, "ALRIGHT YOU LAZY SODS, GET YOUR BLOODY SEX CRAZED BODIES OUT TO THE KITCHEN TO GET SOME BREAKFAST AND SOBER UP POTION. IF YOU ARE NOT UP AND PRESENTABLE IN TEN MINUTES, I WILL BE HIDING ALL THE POTIONS AND SINGING SPICE GIRLS AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS FOR THE REST OF THE DAY! YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES STARTING NOW AND IF YOU DON'T THINK I'M SERIOUS, I WILL PROVE TO YOU THAT I AM." Then she whispered a quick, ' _Quietus_ ' and laughed.

"Who are Spice Girls?" Draco asked confused.

Ben laughed. "It's a muggle music group from England. Don't you listen to muggle music?" he demanded, incredulous.

"No, it's not big for witches and wizards to do much of anything muggle back home," Ginny said matter a factly.

"Wow, that is crazy!" Ben said stuffing another piece of toast in his mouth. Ben flicked his wand and the CD player turned on. He flicked it again and Spice Girls, _Wannabe_ , came blaring out of the speakers that were on walls.

Hermione threw her hands in the air with delight and started dancing around the kitchen singing along. Ben started laughing as she grabbed his hand and pulled him up to dance with her. Neville had been content to watch the scene unfolding when Jess pulled him upright, put his hands on her hips and started swaying with the beat. Ginny, not to be outdone, grabbed a resistant Draco by the hand and pulled him up to dance too.

Draco stood there, swaying slightly to the beat with a small smile on his face as his classmates were twirling around the room and Hermione was singing along, " _If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends…"_ she grabbed his hand and pulled him over and started prodding him into broader, bigger movements, insisting he dance with her as well.

Theo and Pansy walked out of one of the bedrooms to utter chaos. Six of their classmates were dancing around the kitchen island to exceptionally loud music and giggling like idiots.

Hermione saw the latecomers enter the room and she grabbed them by the hands and made them start to dance around too. Pansy looked like she'd just sucked on a lemon until Theo grabbed her hand and gave her a twirl that had her laughing the loudest of them all. It seemed her energy was infectious. Harry and Kate came in and after Hermione passed out the potions to all of them, she pulled Harry into her arms and started twirling. Jake, Sarah and Chris walked out holding on to their heads.

"Hey! Can we stop with the torture until after our potions?" Sarah called out.

Draco laughed and handed them the last three potions and they gulped it down greedily.

"Ugh, so much better," Chris said and waved his hand and changed the cd. Suddenly Sublime's 'What I Got' starts to play. All the WAM students start to dance and sing.

Hermione knew this song too and started singing along, and doing a quick shimmy and shake with Chris, much to the surprise of everyone.

"What?" she said, shrugging. "I like music."

Kate came over and gave her a huge hug, grinning and saying, "I knew I liked you!"

"When did you have time to listen to muggle music?" Harry asked her, impressed.

"When I went home for the summer and vacations. There's a record store down past my parent's house and I spent a lot of time there. I have the new Radiohead LP, and I found this amazing copy of Paul McCartney singing Blackbird that is out of this world," she gushed, looking up to realize everyone was staring at her. " _What!?_ " she yelled, sick of everyone looking at her like she'd sprouted wings or a tail. "Can't a girl love books, and studying, _and_ music?"

"They can," Theo said, nodding his head in agreement. "We just didn't think _you_ could," he finished, taking a bow when the room broke out in laughter.

"Okay everyone," Ben said as Hermione huffed and he lowered the music down, so he could be heard. "We will be leaving in about fifteen minutes, get some breakfast and let's head out."

The group finished eating their toast, finding other breakfast items like oatmeal and bagels, and went to dress properly before they began to pile out to the front lawn.

Outside they found two vehicles, a couple of motorbikes and the RV.

Jake gestured at the white car with red stripes running up the middle, "This here is a 1990 Nissan Skyline GT-R R32. Technically, it's illegal in the US," smiling proudly at the group. They all stared at the sleek car with blacked out windows. Draco stared at the machine with frank appreciation, thinking if this muggle car racing thing turned out to be any fun, that's the kind of machine he'd have for himself.

"Ha, put it back in your pants, Jake," Kate laughed. "This here, is my ride," pointing at the black vehicle, "A 1967 Mustang GT500, known as the mythical "Eleanor." She rides heavy with a V8 Crate Engine, 5-speed, and 17 inch PSE rims. You're not going to ride anything as sweet as this, and trust me I've rode quite a few things," she added with a wink, looking at Harry.

"Now, who is riding where?" Draco asked a little wary of muggle transportation.

"Hermione do you want to ride with me? I'm taking my bike," Chris suggested with a smile.

"Sure," Hermione smiled back with excitement, she had always wanted to ride a bike.

"I don't think so," Neville said with a slight frown. "You've never ridden a bike and you aren't wearing the right clothing. If you guys go down, you would be toast. I don't think you should ride today."

"I'm a good driver, Neville. Hermione will be fine," Chris said a bit put out.

"I never said you weren't, but this isn't about you, it's about Hermione. She doesn't have the right equipment, so she shouldn't ride," he said with a tone of finality that had Chris looking defiant.

"Neville's right," Hermione interrupted with a sigh. "I've never ridden before and I don't even know what to do. I think I'll wait until I can read a little more about it. Next time though, ok?"

"Yeah," Chris said with a huff. "Sure, next time."

"'Mione, you can ride with me and Harry," Kate called out from the seat of her vehicle. "We have room for one more after Hermione, anyone want to join us?"

"I'll come, I guess," Draco heard himself say much to his surprise.

"Alright," Kate said with a smile, "Let's get going."

Everyone split up into various vehicles. Jake took his car and motioned to Ginny and Sarah that they should ride with him mouthing, "We should talk." The girls nodded and got in, Ginny electing to sit in the back and giving Sarah the front seat.

"So…" Jake said, looking at Sarah beside him and then Ginny in the rearview mirror. "What exactly do you two remember?"

Ginny turned scarlet from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes, and reluctantly recounted the memory she'd had first thing that morning, "... and then it goes all fuzzy," she finished lamely.

Jake's hand moved from the gear shift to the crotch of his shorts momentarily, adjusting. Catching Sarah's smirk, he said defensively, "What?" He added with a grumble, "That night was the best night of my life, so pardon me if any remembering causes some activity south of my border. Snitches aren't the only things with flesh memory."

Ginny laughed out loud at his comment and the tension in the vehicle decreased dramatically. "OK, so that's my memory, Jake what's yours?"

Jake fixed his gaze resolutely on the road as he recounted his version of events from the evening before. "It was… nice. Comfortable, honestly. I… I stayed with you Ginny until you were umm... satisfied, and then we both just sort of… set our sights on Sarah." He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't want you guys to think that this was just some sort of… fantasy that I checked off my bucket list. It wasn't like that. I like both of you," he finished softly.

Sarah who had been silent at this point said, "I like you both too. I've mostly been into girls up until this point in my life, but Jake you… You just, give me something I've never had before. You get me out of my head, make me relax. When that's paired with the way I feel physically about both you and Ginny, the mix is just... perfect."

Ginny couldn't get out of _her_ own head at the moment, but she really needed them to know how she felt. At that moment, Jake met her eyes in the rearview mirror and she felt herself calm down and his eyes smiled back at her, finally allowing her to get her feelings out in the open.

"I've never done anything like this before. Back home, I have A LOT of brothers, who are all incredibly over protective and never approved of any of my boyfriends, let alone this… this…" she stumbled, looking for the word she was looking for, unsure what it was she'd actually entered into with these two beautiful people.

"Threesome?"

"Menage-a-trois?"

Ginny groaned. "Errrr… yeah, that. _Thanks_ ," she said, glaring at both Jake and Kate while they giggled at her expense. "The bottom line is, I like you both too, and I don't feel like I should have to choose, so I won't. You have to know though that this is… incredibly new for me, and I might screw it up now and then. I just don't want to hurt you. Either of you."

"I think we all feel that way," Sarah said, looking at Jake for confirmation.

He nodded and said, "I think communication is going to be key here. I know I come across as a jokester all the time, but I have feelings too. Some of them I might try to express in a way that lightens the mood, but that doesn't make them any less real… OK?"

Both the girls nodded into the comfortable silence that seemed to spread throughout the vehicle. "Just one more thing," Ginny added, before she lost her nerve. "I'm used to keeping to myself, for… reasons I can't get into. If I'm spending time by myself, please know that it's not you, it's just the way I handle things. Also, I… have nightmares."

Sarah and Jake both looked at her with mirroring looks of concern. Jake still trying to communicate with her through the rearview mirror, and Sarah twisted around in her seat to look at her completely.

"It's not my story to tell. Well, it _is,_ but it's not _just_ my story to tell… not completely. Some heavy shite went down back home and it's left a lot of us with some… scars. Mine just happen to be nightmares. If I have one when I'm with you, can you promise to just get Hermione, or Harry? They'll both know what's going on and how to fix it. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anymore, you're just going to have to trust me that I'm OK, and that I'll tell you as soon as I'm able, OK?" She held her breath, waiting for them to respond, waiting for them to think that she's crazy and call the whole thing off. She was surprised when Sarah reached back and put her hand over hers where it rested on her knee. After a moment, she picked up Ginny's hand where it lay beneath hers and placed it on Jake's shoulder. Holding eyes with Ginny again in the rearview mirror, he placed his hand over the both of theirs on his shoulder and nodded once. Ginny exhaled and a huge, genuine smile bloomed on her face for the first time in what seemed like years.

* * *

Chris had ridden his bike and Neville had taken the other motor bike with Jess riding along holding tight to Neville's waist. Ben drove the RV with Pansy and Theo, and all the vehicles drove into the mountains. Kate had turned up the music in the car and the girls were enjoying singing along to different songs. Harry and Draco spent much of the ride laughing at the girls and covering their ears during particularly horrid songs.

After about an hour on the highway, the convoy took a dirt road off the highway to their location. Hermione could feel the magic in the air as they crossed a barrier within the mountain landscape. "Muggle repelling charm?" she inquired leaning forward from the backseat to Kate.

"Yeah, we use this space for a lot of things; races, parties, pretty much anything. Since we still use magic, we can't have muggles wandering into our camp. It's not just our space though, I mean we own a portion of it, or my parents and Ben's parents do, but it's more like a co-op of witches and wizards that come out here and use it throughout the year."

"Like a magical time-share!" Hermione exclaimed, delighted. Harry looked over his shoulder and smiled at the look of utter confusion on Draco's face, only to look back and see the same one on Kate's. He laughed, and took pity on them explaining the curious phenomenon by which muggles shared vacation homes.

Kate and the rest of the cavalcade pulled up to a wondrous scene. The land was flat for miles, and the horizon gave way to the Diablo Mountain Range, making a spectacular backdrop for their current escapades. While there was rich green grass almost everywhere, there was also a well worn dirt track that wound across the landscape, complete with hairpin turns. The group all parked at what appeared to be the unofficial beginning of the track and began to file out of the vehicles. The WAM students clearly had a routine and they quickly began to settle into their roles. Kate, Jess, and Sarah began unloading the cars, while Chris and Jake started tinkering under Jake's car as he was evidently unhappy with its performance on the way over. Ben began to open up the RV asking Hermione and Pansy to help transfigure more beds, a longer table for meals, and to help set out a spread for lunch.

Ginny went to help unload the cars and the guys went to check out what Chris and Jake were tinkering with.

One by one, the group ended up seated around the newly lengthened table and the group shared an amazing _al fresco_ meal of fried chicken, potato salad, pinwheel sandwiches, lemonade to drink and fresh watermelon for dessert.

"Who do we have to thank for this amazing food?" Neville asked, devouring his third piece of chicken.

"I raided the refrigerator at my dad and step mom's place," Sarah said, waving a hand at the offered thanks from everyone around the table. "For some reason, my step mom has the house elves keep food prepared like she's about to host a dinner party, only she's never entertained there."

After an hour or so the group was ready to start their day. Chris and Jake were the first ones to the track, talking trash the entire time.

"Anyone want to ride shotgun while I beat the pants off of Chris?" Jake asked with a confident smile.

"Oh, I don't think so, Chris! You are not driving my baby! You stick to your bike, or bring your own damn car," accused Kate.

"C'mon, Kate. Please, please, pretty please..." he begged, folding his hands together and falling to his knees.

"Fine, but if you wreck my car your precious motorcycle will be banished into non being." Chris jumped up and grabbed the keys from Kate's hand giving her a huge smile.

"I repeat, anyone want to ride shotgun while I whip Chris' ass?" Jake repeated.

"I want to ride!" Hermione practically jumped from where she was standing. She couldn't understand why she was excited, but the idea of driving really fast was very appealing. She ran over to the car and was bouncing on her toes with a giant grin on her face.

Jake started laughing, "Aren't you eager?" he teased. She stuck her tongue out at him and got in the car, putting her seatbelt on with a squeal.

"I never thought I would ever see Granger that excited over something like this," Pansy said with a shake of the head. "She always seemed so innocent and safe."

Ginny started laughing as the WAM students followed the cars to the track with the Hogwarts students in their wake. She stopped when the group of Slytherins looked at her like she'd lost her mind.

"You're kidding right?" Ginny scoffed, looking ahead to be sure the WAM students were out of earshot. "She followed Harry into a search for the most evil wizard's soul last year armed with nothing but my _brother_ and her wits. She impersonated the lunatic who tortured her to break into Gringotts where she broke a blind, tortured dragon free and rode it to safety," Ginny finished on a laugh. "This is innocent fun for her these days."

The Slytherins stood still for a second while that soaked in. They hadn't heard too much about what The Golden Trio had done last year. "Guess if you put it that way," Theo said with a snicker, "Hermione is kind of a badass."

"Or a complete idiot," Pansy said, "but, I'm starting to think she's a bit of both."

Draco nodded his head in agreement, still deep in thought. Hermione Granger, muggleborn best friend of The Chosen One, had risked her life for the greater good. She was one of the most wanted people in Britain last year, second only to Harry himself. She was the poster child of good, while he, was the embodiment of disappointment and evil. ' _Our past was shite. Let's have some fucking fun this year…'_ Hermione's words from the previous night echoed in his brain.

"Come on," he said to his two closest friends with a grin. "Let's get into the spirit of things and have some fun," and he ran to catch up with the others.

The race was straightforward, a straight race down the other end of the track. Hermione was sitting in Jake's car with him, and Ginny decided to go with Chris. The two girls were sitting there with grins on their faces while the boys revved their engines. Hermione, slightly nervous cast a sticking charm to her backside so she would feel safer with more than just a muggle seatbelt. She had yelled over to Ginny to do the same just as a precaution, catching Neville's nod of approval.

Kate walked out and stood between the two cars. Hermione's stomach lurched, and her heart started to race as Jake revved the engine of his Skyline, smoke and dust swirling around the cars. She heard Chris rev Kate's Mustang, and looked over to see Ginny smiling, eyes tightly shut. Kate pointed her wand in the air between the two cars and a puff of red smoke came billowing out, then yellow, then green sparks came shooting out to signal the start.

Jake took off, leaving Hermione's stomach at the starting line. Her heart beat harder and faster as he inched his car faster and faster. She wanted to scream but couldn't find her voice, she could feel the car vibrating under her seat. Feeling each gear as Jake slammed the shifter up and down, and as the car went faster and faster she couldn't hold back the tiny excited squeal. She loved that feeling of complete freedom that she always got from going fast in a car. This was the most fun she'd had in a long time! She watched Jake cross the finish line, and a crackle of fireworks let off indicating that he had won the race. Hermione squealed and grasped her hands together as she realized that they had won and he began to slow down and turn around, heading back to the start.

Reaching the start, she jumped out, ran around and hugged Jake hopping up and down. "GOOD GODRIC, that was fun! Can you teach me to drive like that? We drive on the opposite side of the car, and the road, but I want to learn. I want to do that again! I want to drive!"

She let go of a laughing Jake and ran over to Harry, launching herself into his arms for a hug, "Oh Harry! That was so much fun! Is that what riding a broom is like? I doubt it, there is just something about feeling the vibrations under your body as the car moves faster and faster that… it's what a really excellent shag is like… Oh my, Harry, that was seriously the most incredible feeling, I just can't explain it…" Hermione rambled on until she heard Draco chuckle behind her.

"Granger, did you just describe a fast car as what a good shag is like?"

"Yes I did. Or, at the very least, it's like snogging on a washing machine while it's running," she stopped and thought about it for a moment then continued her ramble, "There is just something about the vibrations of a car, it can get a girl excited you know? Well, you probably don't know, not the getting a girl excited part, but the really fast vibrations under your body as the car goes faster. I mean, it's not something you can replicate on a broom. Though I guess it would hit a girl in the right spot, the broom handle… I don't know, I haven't researched it… I guess I can ask Ginny…"

Hermione realized that everyone was staring at her, each wearing a grin on their face, "What?" she asked letting go of Harry who was turning slightly pink.

"Nothing, but I think you got several of the guys semi hard talking about fast cars and wet girls," Draco said, a grin plastered to his face. He never thought Hermione could intrigue him like this.

Hermione turned a shade of pink and a shy smile spread across her lips. Draco noticed she had nice full lips, the perfect little cupid's bow upturned just slightly.

"Well… uh… it's really amazing, racing I mean. I want to try it," Hermione said.

"I'll teach you," Chris said with a smile.

Kate laughed, "I think I'll teach her, Chris. It's my car after all." Then, turning to Hermione, "We'll start later today, just the basics, so you can get used to driving on the left side of the car."

"Ha!" Hermione scoffed and then grinned, "I can't wait!"

The group went back to the track and the WAM students took turns racing the cars, and bikes. Neville even made a show of beating Chris at a motorcycle race, much to the excitement of a screaming Jess. They all even had a go on Harry and Hermione's racing brooms that they brought with them, Draco never looking more pleased with himself than finally beating Harry in a dead heat. They had a blast, except Hermione who insisted on keeping two feet firmly planted on the ground.

"You will get in a car going over 100 miles an hour, but won't get on a broom?" Jake laughed at her.

"The broom goes in the sky, so if you fall, it's more than just going 120 kilometres, it's also falling a long way down. I think I'll stick to cars," Hermione pointed out, everyone laughing at her explanation. She just smiled and sat down on a camp chair next to the RV. It was starting to get dark, so Ben and Chris conjured up some wood to make a fire while Jake and Sarah went inside to start preparing some dinner. The WAM students had planned an all American hot dog cookout for their English counterparts.

Harry sat next to his best friend, "How have you been 'Mione? Seems like a while since we've had a chance to talk, just us."

"I'm really good Harry," Hermione smiled widely. "Isn't it great? No reporters, no evil wizards, just new friends and time for us to be us. I never thought it would be this easy."

"Yeah, I mean it's only been a few weeks, but they've been some of the most stress free weeks of my entire life," Harry admitted with a far off look. Ginny came by with three bottles of butterbeer and handed one to each of them.

"What are you two talking about?" she asked taking a swig from her bottle.

"Just the easiness of the year so far," Hermione answered taking a drink of her own. "How we're all getting along. It's kind of scary but feels nice too."

"Yeah, it's nice to get along with the Slytherins," Ginny said with a glint in her eyes. "Especially blonde haired, grey eyed Slytherins with chiseled cheekbones, a nice arse…"

"Shut it Ginny," Hermione retorted sternly with a hint of a blush and a smile. "That was embarrassing enough the first time, I don't need a reminder."

Harry laughed, "Oh yes, and I'm sure the comparison of riding in cars to making out on a washing machine and talking about vibrations to your core and what good sex is like, that helped paint a nice little picture for Mal…"

"Shhh!" Hermione scolded while her best friends laughed at her. "I will never live that down."

"Live what down?" Theo, Pansy, Neville and Jess came up with their own bottles of butterbeer and sat down around the fire. Kate was walking up with a bag of marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers.

"Nothing," Hermione said with a faint blush. "We need some music, I'm going to see if we have a CD player packed," and she raced off to the RV. She could hear the group as she left, laughter permeating behind her.

Draco was in the back of the RV looking for a quill in his bag when he heard Hermione walking up behind him. He looked up and gave her a smile.

"What are you doing back here?" she asked curiously. "Why aren't you outside with everyone else?"

He held up his quill and parchment, "I haven't written to my mother all week because of classes and getting ready for this campout. She may actually send a howler if she doesn't hear from me soon."

Hermione smiled and knelt down next to him, "It's nice that you write her every week, I miss that." Her smile slowly faded from her lips and Draco could see wetness build behind her lids.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" He'd used her given name. _Strange,_ he thought, _it still sounds strange._

She shook her head and turned away, but not before he caught the first tear fall and her frantic attempt to wipe away the evidence. "Nothing, it's just… sometimes it hits me you know? My parents aren't around anymore… I mean they are, but they aren't…"

"What do you mean? What happened to them?" Draco mentally went through his memories to see if had heard anything about her parents during the war. Hermione's family had always been a big topic as Voldemort saw them as leverage against Hermione, and therefore against Potter.

"Nothing, they live in Australia… or they did, I haven't seen them in over a year."

"Didn't you go home after the war? When did they move to Australia?"

Hermione stood, taking a deep breath and moved away from him, still turned so he couldn't see her face. When she finally spoke, her voice was thick with tears, "I made them," she whispered. "I was worried they were in danger, so I… I modified their memories. I don't exist to them," she stated flatly. "I sent them away, took myself… away… from… them… they don't… they don't…" she stopped, gripping the table and finally grasped her stomach, trying to hold herself together. She didn't know why she decided to tell Draco that part of her story, maybe it was the fact that he was writing to his mother, that he still had a parent that loved him and she didn't.

Draco didn't know what to do, but sitting here with a quill and parchment wasn't it. He put them down, stood and made his way carefully behind her, putting his hand on her shoulder hoping to console her. He'd look back on this moment and wonder if it was he who pulled her into him, or her who made the first move, but either way they ended up in each other's arms. He was surprised at first but thought _sod this,_ rubbing her shoulders, he pulled her close, letting her cry on his chest. He noticed how well her head cradled into the crook of his neck, he stroked her hair and breathed her in, an intriguing blend of roses, vanilla and old books, while whispering comforting words as she broke down. Once she started to calm a little he said, "Hermione, I'm going to get Potter for you OK? I'm sure you would feel a lot better if he was here with you."

She looked up at him, eyes shiny and red with sadness and nodded. He caressed her cheek and wiped away some of her tears. Not really knowing why he felt compelled to touch her, he wasn't even sure what possessed him to hold her, to comfort her, but he knew he needed to. He had an overwhelming urge to kiss her, to make her sadness go away, to help her forget that she was in that state in the first place. Instead he got up and started walking towards the front door. He passed Jake and Sarah; both of them with looks of confusion at his haste, and out the door. He walked over to his friends and they all stopped talking to stare at him.

"Um, Potter?" he started, "Can you come here?" Harry got up looking concerned and followed Draco to the camper. "Potter you need to go to the back and talk to Granger, she and I were talking and she started crying…" He could see the anger rise in Harry's face and quickly went on, "We were just talking. I was going to write a letter to my mother when she came in and saw me. She told me about her parents..."

Harry's face changed almost as fast as Draco finished the sentence, his expression clear of any animosity now that he was sure Draco hadn't hurt his friend. "Is she ok? Your shirt is all wet."

"She was upset, she's calmer now, but I told her I would get you. I'm sure you can make her feel better. I tried to comfort her, but I'm… not you."

Harry just nodded and walked into the camper, set on finding his best friend. He knew that her parents were still a sore spot. Once he reached the back, he saw her crouched on the floor, willing herself back together and he sighed. Sitting down next to her, he pulled her into his lap and rocked as she started crying again. He knew she needed to be held, he knew that she would be OK after a good cry, and he was silently grateful to Malfoy for trying to do that for her.

Draco had waited a moment before following him in the camper. He waited until Harry had gone in the back and closed the door. Draco put up a silencing charm and sat on the floor, guarding the door. He didn't know why he was doing it, but he didn't want anyone barging in on the two friends as they spent this time alone.

Kate had seen the whole exchange. She had watched as Hermione walked to the back of the RV. Witnessed Draco come out with a wet shirt and saw Harry come in and go back there. She also saw Draco sit on the ground in front of the door. As she walked up to her blonde friend, Draco stood up, shirt still damp with mascara stains. "Give them a minute," Draco requested.

"What did you do? What is on your shirt?" Kate demanded, her face turning pink.

Draco narrowed his eyes, his temper on the brink from all the emotions of the past hour or so, but he remained calm. "I didn't do anything. Hermione is having a hard time and Potter is comforting her. I'm giving them a minute to do that."

"Why does she need to be comforted? She was fine when she walked in there," Kate insisted, trying to get passed Draco.

"That really isn't your concern. It is her private business and will stay that way unless she feels like sharing it with anyone else," Draco insisted, blocking her path, body tense.

"It is my business if you hurt her!"

"Trust me when I say it truly is _none_ of your business, but no, I didn't hurt her. I've known Granger for years. She's tougher than she looks, but it's been a rough year for all of us. She just needs a moment with her best friend, respect that," Draco finished quietly, but with such finality that Kate just stood there fuming.

Slowly the door opened from behind them. Draco felt a hand on his arm and turned to see a freshly glamoured Hermione. His body relaxing, he turned to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Are you okay?" his silver eyes trained on her honey colored irises. Concern filling his voice, he could see the sadness still behind those eyes.

She nodded and gave him a brief hug. He stiffened under her arms, not sure about this new part of their odd relationship. Finally giving in, he wrapped his arms around and hugged her back.

"Thank you, Draco. I'm sorry for unloading on you," whispering so only he could hear. "Thank you for getting Harry too."

Draco looked up at Harry and Harry swallowed hard and nodded appreciation to his blonde counterpart. "Um, sure, of course Hermione," he whispered back with a small smile.

"Hermione are you ok?" Kate huffed at this strange scene. She wasn't sure, but there seemed to be something off about the whole thing.

Hermione looked up at Kate, moving away from Draco's chest, but not letting him go, "Yes, I'm fine. Draco and Harry were just helping me with something, that's all."

Turning back to Draco she ran her fingers up and down his arms and said, "I will let you get back to your letter." Smiling, she grabbed Harry's hand and walked out leaving Kate standing there in a stupor. Harry looked back over his shoulder, and shot her what was meant to be a reassuring smile.

Draco smiled, and went back to pick up his parchment and quill, grabbed some ink and went to sit and write his letter. He sat there for a few minutes thinking about the ghost of her caress on his arms, and the shiver that ran down his back as she did it.

Kate followed Hermione and Harry outside, "Are you sure you don't need some water or something Hermione?"

Hermione turned to face Kate, "No, thank you. I'll be fine, I just needed a moment to... reflect." She walked back to the fire and the group, grabbing the butterbeer Ginny held out.

Kate opened her mouth to say something else but Harry cut her off gently, "Leave it alone Kate, trust me, she's fine."

"She was crying Harry, what did Draco do?"

Harry sighed again, "As much as it pains me to say this, because Merlin knows we do not get on very well, he didn't do anything. It's been a tough year on us all, we all have things we are dealing with and that's what we're doing, dealing. I'm not going to tell you what we've been through because, frankly, none of us want to go through it again. So can you just drop it? Please?" He begged, gripping her hands tightly.

Ben walked up next to Kate, "What's going on?" he whispered, seeing the exchange between the three of them.

"I don't know, I think Draco hurt her somehow."

"Draco? Why would you say that?"

"She was crying, his shirt was wet."

"If she was crying and his shirt was wet, then wouldn't that mean he was comforting her?" He countered, not understanding what Kate's thought process was.

"There is something going on!" she insisted. "That confession he started last night, the tears tonight, something isn't adding up!"

"So what?!" Ben whispered anxiously, "C'mon Kate, what does it matter that Draco is comforting her? You heard Ms. Carter explain why they're here - their school was destroyed in that accident, and they _lost_ people. Friends! Does it really surprise you that they are grieving?! Kate, we have only known them for a few weeks, they have all known each other for years. You can't expect to move in and take over as protector, you don't know if she needs that. Just... back off Kate."

Kate silently fumed but let it go as Jake and Sarah walked out of the camper with trays of hot dogs, buns, condiments and pitchers of lemonade, tea and pumpkin juice. Once all the food was laid out, Jake explained what to do with the sticks, as everyone but Harry and Hermione were confused, and they began to roast the hotdogs over the fire. Hermione sat next to Kate and bumped her with her shoulder, giving her a warm smile, trying to let her know that she's OK. Kate paused, looking over Hermione intently and finally relaxed her shoulders, bumping her back, smiling and mouthing, "Sorry." Draco came out just as Ginny had set her hotdog on fire and flung it over his direction in a panic, missing him by several feet. Everyone got a good laugh and settled down for a down-home American campout.

* * *

A/N: We really love your reviews! Keep them coming!


	10. Refined Revisions

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N:** Just some fluff for your reading pleasure ~~Waves enthusiastically~~

~~Special shout out to **Freya_Ishtar** for her fabulous artwork she created for our cover. We love it, Thank you so much!~~

 **Chapter 10 ~Refined Revisions~  
**

Over the next week the students continued to take classes and get closer as a group. It surprised Harry just how easy it was to get along with the likes of Theo Nott and Draco Malfoy without the air of superiority that usually bled through their pores. Even Pansy, Ginny, and Hermione could be spotted talking and joking with each other. Wednesday, after classes had finished, Hermione was sitting in the library beneath her usual pile of books as Kate and Harry came walking in.

"'Mione, what are you doing?" Harry asked as he sat down next to her at the desk. Kate jumped up and sat on the desk, grabbed a book and started flipping through it randomly. Her long legs covered in black pants with a green stripe down the side. It was starting to get cold on the island, especially with the breeze from the Pacific.

"I'm giving birth," Hermione answered flippantly, not looking up as she was checking a fact in one of her books. Harry chuckled at her cheek. "I'm finishing up the homework from American History of Magic, Harry, what does it look like I'm doing?"

"Hermione," Kate whined, "We just got that assignment three hours ago and it's not due till next week. How are you almost finished? Don't you ever just _not_ study?"

Hermione and Harry looked at Kate like she had bat bogey's flying out of her nose. Kate giggled, "I guess that would be a no... but come on 'Mione, let's go have a little fun. Homework will always be there, but fun might not."

Hermione rolled her eyes at her new friend, "Honestly Kate, I just want to get this done before dinner." Hermione turned her eyes back to her books, "Harry you should start yours too."

Harry looked at her with wide eyes, "It's not due until next week, I'll do it over the weekend."

"I heard from Sarah that we're supposed to be busy this weekend," Hermione commented as her quill scratched over the parchment.

"Oh yeah," Kate remembered. "We have plans this weekend, so maybe we _should_ write that paper, but not until after dinner. Hermione, take a break! Let's go outside and see if we can get Terrence to go into the city and bring back some stuff to make studying a bit more... fun," Kate had a twinkle of mischief in her eye.

Hermione laughed, looking both ways as to not be overheard, "I think Malfoy might already have that covered, but you didn't hear that from me." Hermione remembered seeing Draco talking to Terrence when they arrived.

Kate's eyes went wide, "What? Terrence never gets stuff for us, why is he getting stuff for Draco?"

"When you have more money than goblins, I guess it helps," Harry whispered with a smirk.

"I could have bribed him," Kate interrupted.

"I'm not sure you have the right _parts_ to pull that off, Kate," Hermione giggled at the memory of Terrence shamelessly hitting on Draco.

Harry and Kate laughed. "Yeah, I guess I wouldn't exactly do it for him," Kate admitted. "Let's go see if Draco has cashed in on those good looks of his. Hermione put it away, or I'll jinx that quill to write random words instead of yours," she lifted her wand in a threatening, but friendly way.

Hermione laughed again and surrendered. She finished her last thought, waved her wand and the books went flying back to the shelves while her bag repacked itself. Picking it up, she followed her friends out of the library.

They found Draco sitting in the seventh year common area surrounded by books. Harry and Kate walked in and started laughing as soon as they saw him. Draco looked up with a frown, "What?"

Kate caught Hermione's eye and asked, "Draco, what are you doing?"

"Working on my paper for History of Magic," he said with a raised brow which only elicited more laughter from Kate and Harry. He looked over at Hermione who was turning pink, "What is with them?"

"Ahh, two peas… one pod…" Kate chuckled. "Never mind, so Hermione was telling me that you may, or may not, have a deal with our beloved ferry master?"

Draco looked over at Hermione and watched as she turned a little more pink. He _knew_ she had been watching him, suspecting he was up to something that first day. He just shook his head and grinned. "I might have, why?" he questioned, leaning back in his chair with his ankles crossed and his hands clasped behind his head.

"Because we are in need of... provisions... for a study session," Kate stated with a grin.

"Oh yeah?" Draco asked with a knowing smile, "The liquid kind?"

"Yes! See, I knew you were smart Draco," Kate beamed at him. Harry and Hermione laughed and sat on the couch. Hermione started unloading her bag and Kate eyed her warily, "No! You can not go back to doing homework, I swear you guys, what is with all this homework doing the same day it's given? You have a whole week to do it!"

Hermione shrugged, "I like to get things done, and I'm almost done with it."

Kate stood there and shook her head. "OK, no," she waved her wand and all the books, bags, and parchment shot up into the air and into their respective rooms. Draco and Hermione both began to talk at once, and Draco's quill was fighting madly, trying to dislodge itself from between his fingers. "We have a _week_ to do this essay, you do not have to do it right now. I know you are the all mighty Hermione Granger, know it all, and whatever, but you are going to have fun this year and it does not include doing all your homework before it's even assigned and that goes for you too blondie." This last demand was punctuated by Draco's quill finally escaping his death grip and flying into his bedroom.

Hermione looked like she wanted to argue, she had never had anyone take her work away from her. She thought about it, thought about how much she had been through and after the war, did she really just want to spend her whole life in the library? _No,_ she thought, _No, I came to America to have fun and to finish the year. We have all been through so much, being in the library surrounded by books the whole nine months we are here isn't going to help._

"Okay Kate," her voice was full of resolve, "What kind of fun are you suggesting?"

Harry sat there open mouthed, he never thought he would see the day that Hermione would let someone tell her she couldn't do her homework.

"Let's see if we can get blondie to get Terrence to sneak us into the city and go see a movie, or grab some dinner, or go shopping. Just something that isn't hanging out in the common area doing homework."

Harry looked at Hermione, he could see the look of apprehension on her face, but it was soon replaced with a smile.

"Okay, I'm in," she agreed quickly. "Harry, bring the invisibility cloak, just in case we need to sneak back in."

Draco was surprised, he never thought Hermione would be ok with breaking the rules. "Are you sure Hermione?" he was getting used to say her name. "Since when do you condone breaking the rules? What about the contract we signed?" he didn't like the idea of what could happen to him for being caught sneaking off the island.

"I read the contract," she smirked. "It said we would only get in trouble if we get caught. I have no intention of getting caught and as for rule breaking, I think it all started in second year when I brewed polyjuice potion and turned Harry and Ron into Crabbe and Goyle to get into the Slytherin Common Room to, um, mess with you," she finished lamely remembering that Kate didn't know about the Chamber of Secrets and the Heir of Slytherin.

"Hey, wait a minute, you brewed polyjuice in second year, and they snuck into the common room? When was this?"

Harry laughed, "During Christmas, we um… nevermind, though Hermione never looked better that night."

"Shut it Harry," she scolded, remembering that she had turned herself into a cat for weeks after that incident.

Draco, sensing there was more to the story, started to grin, "What did you do Hermione?"

"Nothing, there was a reason for the polyjuice and let's just say it wasn't fruitful."

"But it was entertaining," Harry reminisced.

Kate, just watching the exchange of random banter and watching Hermione turning pink decided that was enough of that, "Yeah, OK… does that mean you boys are in? If we're going to go, we should go now, before everyone wants to come and I don't think we could explain why the entire seventh year is mysteriously gone in the middle of the week."

Harry nodded, Hermione grinned and glanced over at Draco. He regarded her for another moment and grinned back, "Well if Granger is willingly going to flaunt rule breaking then why not?"

"Yay!" Kate squealed. "Okay, now boys, go get dressed and blondie, make sure you show off some of those abs. We need Terrence to be happy to break the rules for us," she winked at him and grabbed Hermione's arm to her room.

Hermione started laughing. "Meet us back here in about thirty minutes?" she called over her shoulder.

Draco nodded, "Yeah, thirty minutes."

"That's a long time to go get pretty Malfoy," Harry teased.

Draco started laughing, knowing full well what he would have to do. "Shut it Potter, or you can do it for me."

Hermione stood in her room looking at her closet in complete confusion, unable to decide what to wear. Kate had bought, with severe opposition from Hermione, a large selection of jeans, tops, skirts, pajamas, and lacy undergarments that made Hermione blush pink. She had so many new clothes that it was a bit overwhelming. She decided to wear some of her own clothes; a blue jumper, a pair of jeans, and trainers when Kate walked in the door wearing a red mini dress overlaid with a black lace cardigan, a matching black lace choker necklace and a pair of knee high low heeled boots.

Kate took one look at Hermione and shook her head, "NO! You can not go out looking like a bag lady!"

Draco and Harry were both sitting in the common room when they heard Kate yell. They both looked towards the girl's hall and started laughing.

"SHUT IT, THE BOTH OF YOU," Hermione's voice could be heard through the open door. "Kate, why do I have to get dressed up? This is stupid, it's just dinner!"

"You have to get dressed up because I say so. We just got you a ton of new cute clothes, and you are going to wear some of them if I have to body bind you and dress you myself! Now change because if I have to dress you, I guarantee you won't like it."

Hermione groaned, she knew if she didn't just get changed Kate would make due on her promise. Hermione stood up and started rooting through the new clothes that Kate purchased. She settled for a black leather skirt that hit her mid thigh, a turquoise crop top, black hose and a pair of black leather knee high boots. Looking in the mirror, she decided to put on a little eyeliner and mascara and a bit of pink lip gloss. Not knowing what to do with her hair, she decided to simply pull it out of her eyes and use a little Sleek Easy to tame down some of the curls. As she fiddled with her hair, her eye caught the gorgeous Fendi beaded bag that Kate insisted she needed to "update" the older version. Of course, the first thing she'd done was to cast an undetectable extension charm on it; old habits died hard.

"Kate!" Hermione yelled from her room, adding the bag and looking in the mirror. She was starting to think she was too dressed up for a simple night out. She walked out into the hallway saying, "Kate, I think I'm too dressed up! I look ridiculous!"

"I didn't buy anything ridiculous 'Mione," Kate scolded. "Come here so I can see. I don't trust your judgement, I saw what you wanted to wear."

Hermione frowned as she walked to the common room, "It wasn't that bad! Harry, what do you think? I look stupid right?"

Harry looked up at his friend and flashed back to the Yule Ball when he had never seen his best friend look more beautiful, "Hermione," he gaped, "You look amazing, not stupid at all."

"You sure? I feel overdressed."

Draco looked up at Hermione and his jaw dropped. He snapped it shut quickly, hoping she hadn't noticed. "You… um… look nice," he finished lamely.

Hermione looked at him, taking in his dark fitted jeans and tight green shirt, grey jacket and black boots. _He looks bloody amazing,_ she thought almost drooling.

"Nice," she asked doubtfully, "I look like I'm going… I don't know… I feel too overdone, you know? But, thanks..."

Kate put her foot down, "No, you look perfect. You have to stop dressing like my grandmother. Scratch that, my _grandmother's_ grandmother and start dressing your actual age for Merlin's sake. I mean it, you look hot, you can not go back to dressing in sweaters and jeans all the time, or I will bring them all to our next camping trip and throw them in the fire. Now stop whining and let's go before anyone sees we're missing."

They made their way outside, Kate and Harry holding hands, laughing at one another and turning occasionally to poke fun at their friends behind them. Draco walked silently with his hands in his pockets, enjoying the company and the view, while simultaneously trying to avoid thinking about the encounter he was about to have with Terrence. He didn't really mind the flirtation, it was all just a little bit… embarrassing. As they approached the dock for The Western Fairy, Draco took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and put on his most award winning smile.

Hermione sat back with Harry and Kate watching Draco casually put his arm around Terrence's shoulder, having what appeared to be an important conversation before giving him the most luminous smile she'd ever seen on his face, shaking his hand and winking at him. Kate was barely managing to control her laughter, and when Draco finally made it back to the group looking slightly ashamed, she lost complete control.

"Shut it, you muppet!" Draco said defensively, pulling on his collar. "This was your bloody idea, and I had the cash and the body parts, OK? That's it."

Kate plastered a more sober expression on her face. "Oh yes, of _course_ Draco, just let me know if you need help planning the wedding…" bursting out laughing once again. Lobbing a sympathetic smile at Draco, Harry grabbed Kate by the arm and started moving her toward the ferry before Draco could get pissed and nix the whole plan.

Hermione giggled once, softly, which earned her a side eyed glare from her solo companion. "Going to have a go are you?" he asked facing her with his arms crossed, clearly wanting her to just get it out of her system now.

"No… I…," and she giggled again, slapping a hand against her mouth.

"Right then," he said turning on his heel and walking toward the ferry.

"Oh Draco, stop! _Stop!_ " she said breathless, finally catching up with him. She hooked her arm in his, counting on his good breeding to keep him from leaving her there, or rushing them along as they walked toward the Western Fairy.

"I'm sorry, you just looked so… happy," she explained quietly.

" _Happy?_ " He looked incredulous.

"Oh not about _that_ ," Hermione said quickly. "You just looked proud of yourself for pulling this off, and happy that we were getting to spend some time away."

At this, Draco looked down at her, his face completely neutral, but his eyes were anything but. _They really are like storm clouds_ , she found herself thinking, completely swept up in the intensity of his gaze. Then she realized the double entendre to what she'd said and clarified quickly.

"The group I mean, Harry and Kate, you and I…" She realized too late that this only made it sound more like a double date and she blushed furiously. "You know what I mean!"

"Certainly," he allowed, hiding a grin and tucking her hand into the crook of his elbow, amused at how flustered she'd gotten over the idea of being on a date with him. _Was this a date?_ He found himself wondering. He'd be lying to himself if he hadn't thought of it when Kate had brought it up, though he suspected that that was her intention. She was a sly one, that Kate. He'd have to keep an eye on her going forward. _For now_ , he thought, _let's just see how this all plays out._

Terrence was waiting at the edge of the island staring out toward San Francisco Bay wearing black fitted trousers, a mock turtleneck in light grey with a bottle green, knee length, suede jacket that was lined with a charcoal grey fur of some kind.

"You look like you just stepped off the runway Terrence," Hermione said, shaking his hand in greeting.

"My dear, so do you, and believe me when I say I didn't expect that level of couture to ever bless that fabulous body of yours," he said playfully, making her turn so he could get a good look at her outfit while she blushed madly.

"Well… I may, or may not have had some help," she admitted, wiggling fingers at Kate who had already boarded the ferry and was pulling faces at her through the window.

"Ah, but of course," he said with a grin. "That girl has a truly inspired fashion sense. Naturally, I taught her everything she knows…"

"You _wish_ you could take credit for this Terrence!" she yelled through the window making Terrence wince.

"Didn't think she could hear me. Anyways, you're smart to let her shop for you!"

"Well… 'let' is a strong word," Hermione hedged, not sure if Kate could hear her too. Seeing the face that Kate gave her, she knew that she could.

"And _you_ , my fine feathered friend," he said, waving his arm to encompass Draco's ensemble.

"Don't you just look like you stepped out of GQ? Your Gorgeous Quotient is off the _charts_ today!"

Draco grinned, a little tight around the mouth Hermione noticed, but genuine enough. "Well, I couldn't bear to disappoint _any_ of my companions tonight," he retorted taking Hermione's hand again and tucking it in his elbow.

"I _see_ ,"he said, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "You go girl, go on with your bad self!"

Hermione blushed and walked aboard the Western Fairy giving Terrence one last smile.

Once across to the mainland Terrence told them that he would be there to take them back to school no later than 11 PM. Hermione opened her bag and produced a galleon.

"Girl, you don't have to tip me," Terrence teased, "but if you do, I prefer Gucci to galleons."

Hermione laughed, "This is a fake galleon, I have one as well. I charmed it my fifth year, if we decide to come back early I'll spell a message on mine and it will show up on yours. Like a muggle walkie talkie, that way you don't have to be here waiting for us. Feel free to go about your business, we'll let you know when we're ready to go back - it's the least we can do."

Terrence grinned at the young brunette, "Well Miss Thang, I like the way you think. Have fun and don't get into trouble, I don't want to have to explain why the cutest kids in the year are MIA."

Draco smiled even though he was not sure what MIA was. "We will, thanks again Terry," and the four students disembarked the ferry.

Once they reached the street, Kate turned to Draco with a wicked smile, "Terry, huh?"

"Shut up Kate, this is your doing. If you want, you can try and charm him next time?"

Everyone laughed, though Draco's was a bit forced as he was feeling a bit like this could get out of hand, and fast.

"Aww Draco, you feeling used?" Hermione teased grabbing his elbow. "Don't worry, we won't tell anyone how charming you are when you want to be."

Draco shot her a blinding white smile, "You find me charming, huh?"

Hermione flushed, shaking her head at how mercurial he could be, "You have your moments. You've gotten away with murder for seven years, I knew it had to be in there somewhere." She flushed even deeper at her poor choice of words, but relaxed when she looked up and saw the grin he flashed her.

Kate laughed and walked to the street hand in hand with Harry towards the restaurant. Draco and Hermione strolled leisurely behind them, Draco once again keeping Hermione's hand in the crook of his elbow. She couldn't decide whether this was just his pedigree showing through, or whether he enjoyed the contact. Either way though, she couldn't say that she minded. She didn't mind the conversation either, and she wasn't sure why, but that really surprised her.

Perhaps it was naive of her, but she'd always assumed that Draco was all slicked back hair, witty repartee and blood prejudice rhetoric, even though he got decent grades in school. She legitimately thought that the only reason he'd done well in potions was because Snape was potions master, but during one of their conversations about the uses of mandrake root, he'd surprised her by knowing some of the more rare potions that included the ingredient. He also had a lot to say about the wolfsbane potion and how he thought it should be free for those who were afflicted with lycanthropy. Which had had her jaw dropping in a completely unattractive gape until he'd stopped talking, tucked his fingers under her chin and closed it for her. They chatted quite naturally, which if they thought about it, was not as unnatural as it used to be. _California is a strange haven,_ Hermione thought. This was a thought she found herself having whenever she interacted with the Slytherin trio in a somewhat normal fashion.

They'd argued briefly about where to eat, but Kate had won when she suggested that they eat on the pier so that they could walk around, check out the mazes, and ride on the carousel. The mention of the carousel had Hermione emitting a most undignified squeal and practically begging Draco and Harry to give in. The way Draco saw it, anything that made Hermione that happy couldn't be _that_ bad.

Hermione noticed how much attention Draco drew from the opposite sex walking down the pier behind Kate and Harry. She rolled her eyes and held on to his arm, _I wonder what it's like to be extraordinarily good looking,_ she thought with an inward giggle. She never noticed that she was drawing just as much attention as her blonde escort.

Draco did though, he had noticed a couple of blokes turn toward the curly haired witch as they walked passed. One guy even stopped short after they passed them and earned himself a smack from his date as he turned to stare at Hermione's backside. He let his eyes slide back and had to admit, she did have an amazing arse, especially in that skirt. He wasn't sure why, but he was not liking this extra attention she was getting from those muggle men.

They found a muggle sushi restaurant called Isobune™ Sushi and had a delicious seafood dinner. Draco had been fascinated when the chefs prepared the meal right in front of them and then sent it to them on tiny boats in the small river of water separating the patrons from the kitchen staff. Kate and Draco laughed as Harry gagged on an oyster which Hermione politely declined to eat as she had tried them years ago on holiday with her parents. She _had_ tried what Kate told her was something called unagi, until Draco read off the menu that unagi was the Japanese word for fresh water eel. She couldn't help but feel like there was a subtle slithering going on in her belly and she vowed that she wouldn't put anything else in her mouth without knowing the contents.

After dinner the four walked Pier 39 enjoying the street performances. Kate and Hermione would dance around to some of the more upbeat songs, dropping muggle money in the cases of the musicians. There was an intriguing maze that Kate had begged Harry to go into with her, but Harry had staunchly refused, much to her irritation. It nearly derailed their evening until Draco had pointed out the carousel, catching Harry's eye and nodding in understanding. A maze would never be a childhood fancy to Potter anymore, not after the TriWizard Tournament. In all honesty, Draco was fascinated by the carousel, and Kate and Hermione begged the boys to ride with them until they reluctantly gave in. Kate's dress was a little short to ride one of the horses, so she and Harry opted to sit in a teacup while Hermione and Draco rode on horses. Draco noticed that even with her longer skirt, the cut of it made for tantalizing flashes of flesh as it hiked up higher on her thighs. He caught himself sneaking longer and longer glances at her legs in what he thought were black tights, but when she turned to shout at Harry and Kate, he found that they only went up to her thigh and were held in place with a band of elastic. The image of what might be under her skirt had intrigued his thoughts for the rest of the ride. He didn't really understand the point of going in circles, but the view not to mention the smile and laugh that came from Hermione, was worth it.

Harry pointed out the aquarium, and Kate quickly bought tickets for all four of them before anyone could protest. Draco was mesmerized by all of the jewel colored fish, swimming around as though nothing in the world could upset them. He marveled at the huge glass tanks that the muggles used to house them, and how many different _kinds_ of fish there were. He asked Hermione a barrage of questions, everything from 'why do they even keep these here?' to, 'how much would it cost to make one of these of my own?' She was a good sport and answered as best she could, though having to confess to Draco Malfoy that she was just as amazed and ignorant of the aquarium process as he was, was more than a little galling. The only experience she'd had was looking at her cousin's beta fish over Christmas break when she was eleven.

Hermione didn't remember ever having such a good time just doing muggle teenage things. Being a witch, there weren't many days where she didn't use magic. Even before she was of age she spent most of her holidays with the Weasley's, so there was always magic floating around. Tonight though, there was no magic, no intrigue. Just plain, old fashioned muggle fun with Draco Malfoy no less. She was sure somewhere in the world his ancestors were rolling in their graves, but he didn't seem to mind having fun as a muggle. No less, with a muggleborn and Harry Potter. _It must be snowing in Hades,_ she thought.

Before they headed back to the dock to meet Terrence, Kate took them to resupply their provisions for the study session she was planning. Draco decided to pick up a couple of nice bottles of Ogden's Oak Mature Mead and a bottle of fifty year old elven wine as a thank you gift for Terrence. Never could it be said that Malfoys don't tip generously.

On the ferry, Harry and Kate were in one of the cabins, taking advantage of the boat ride while Hermione was standing up against the rail looking out at the sea. It was such a nice evening! She was deep in thought when she felt something warm and heavy come around her shoulders. Draco had taken off his jacket and put it around her. She could still feel all of his body heat, and she shivered grateful, not realizing how chilly the night air had gotten. She looked up at him and smiled, "Thank you, I can't believe I didn't think to bring a jumper, but knowing Kate, she would have thrown it overboard."

Draco laughed, "That's probably a safe bet," he agreed. "Though I can't say that I blame her, your jumpers are awful. Always too big. You look like your laundry is trying to eat you."

"I'm trying to think if there is a compliment in that statement at all, but I don't think there was," Hermione giggled shaking her head. "I know I don't dress the part of posh witch, but with what we've been going through, it was never a priority."

"Well, the war is over," Draco leaned down, whispering close to her ear and rubbing his hands up and down her arms trying to bring her even more warmth. His warm breath tickling her earlobe, "And you look bloody posh tonight Hermione."

As she stood there going over his words in her head in the darkness, she smiled knowing he couldn't see the blush that covered her body. It had been a very nice night indeed.


	11. Old Habits Die Hard

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N:** Have you seen our new cover phot that **Freya_Ishtar** created. Holy shite, its ah-mazing!

Please know this chapter includes marijuana use, and adult sexual nature. Enjoy the lemony fluff!

* * *

 **Chapter 11 ~ Old Habits Die Hard ~  
**

After their night on the town, it was hard to concentrate in class, especially when that class was Defence Against The Dark Arts with Mr. Oliver. Hermione didn't like to think ill of a teacher, but he really was an unpleasant man, and he had treated the Hogwarts students with suspicion and thinly veiled contempt since the day they'd set foot on campus. By and large they'd managed to stay on his good side as they were well learned in the subject matter. The worst part for Hermione and Harry was that this man didn't seem like he'd seen a grindylow let alone a dementor, and since the subject of today's lesson was the patronus charm, she doubted the lesson would be even remotely illuminating. She looked over at Harry as class began and grinned, knowing he too would have a hard time with this class and was glad she'd sat beside him. Perhaps they could play a game of tic-tac-toe on a spare bit of parchment to pass the time.

They'd gotten about halfway through class when Hermione's attention was dragged away from the running line of knock-knock jokes her and Harry were coming up with, by something Mr. Oliver had said. Her hand flew up in the air, almost of it's own accord.

"Excuse me, Mr. Oliver?" she said clearly, when he had ignored her hand for the third time while scanning the classroom.

The professor gave a protracted sigh before saying, "Yes, He… Helen, is it?"

"Hermione, sir. Would you mind repeating that last bit that you said? About the youngest known wizard to cast a corporeal patronus?"

Harry groaned and pulled on Hermione's hand trying to get her to take her seat. "Leave it, Hermione!" he hissed.

"Certainly. I said that the youngest known wizard to cast a corporeal patronus was Antonius Aldridge who cast a fully formed field mouse patronus at the age of 18, though there are rumors that this was a false account made by a good friend whom he paid to tell the story," he finished, clearly skeptical that this story had any basis in fact. "Now, if I may continue…"

Hermione's hand shot up again and she used the other to bat away Harry's attempts to drag her back to her seat. Neville had perked up at Hermione's last question, and Draco was riveted looking back and forth between Hermione and the professor.

"Excuse me, sir?" Hermione said again, when he tried to ignore her a second time.

"Really Hermione, is there a reason why you are so intent on interrupting my lesson!?" he fumed, clearly not used to being questioned in his classroom.

"Yes sir, I apologize sir, but I thought you'd like the chance to correct yourself, as there are several accounts of wizards as young as seventeen casting a corporeal patronus. In Britain, sir," she said evenly.

Mr. Oliver scoffed and said quite sternly, "That'll be enough of that kind of story telling Miss Granger. I don't teach _fiction_ , I teach fact, and the fact is that younger wizards are _not capable_ of this kind of magic. Why do you think this lesson is a theoretical one?"

"I'm not sure sir, are you not capable of producing a corporeal patronus?"

The entire room gasped, though Hermione's friends were looking at her with renewed interest. The Hermione that they had gotten to know respected all teachers, so this Hermione, this was something to behold. Draco's grin was growing by the second as he anticipated what was coming next.

"I beg your _pardon_ , Miss Granger?" Mr. Oliver asked, dangerously quiet. "I believe this is _my_ classroom, and I'll thank you to keep a respectful tone when you speak to me in it. I can most certainly produce a corporeal patronus, though since it's a particularly powerful charm, I only do so under strict circumstances. Showing off for a bunch of seventh year students is not one of them. Now, sit down."

"I'm sorry sir, but I really can't sit down unless you acknowledge that younger wizards are capable of casting a corporeal patronus. Mine, for instance, takes the shape of an otter."

"Miss Granger, I will not have you spouting falsehoods in my classroom. _You must not tell lies!_ " he shouted, incensed at her insubordination.

Harry's chair falling backward against the tiles was like gunfire and every head in the room shifted in his direction. " _Expecto Patronum!"_ he yelled, and his characteristic silvery stag shot from the end of his wand and ran straight for the professor who screamed shrilly and ducked behind his desk. Neville, Ginny, and Hermione stood up, cast their charms more quietly, and the beautiful, fully formed stag was joined by an ethereal otter, a galloping horse, and a magnificent ram. Hermione looked at Neville, startled, as she'd never seen him cast a corporeal patronus.

"I found something to be really, really happy about after our… trouble, last year," he murmured, so only she could hear. Hermione found herself grinning from ear to ear.

At this point, Draco, Pansy and Theo came to stand behind their other classmates. They'd never been apart of Dumbledore's Army, so they didn't know how to cast the patronus charm, but they knew their friends were right, and that's what counted.

Mr. Oliver's mouth continued to open and close like a fish while he watched the four animals wander around the room, brushing up against the other students who were absolutely enamored with their silver, glowing shapes. Finally, he stood up, pulled down his shirt and vest, and addressed the class.

"Well. It seems you no longer need me as a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher since you have these _students_ to teach you. Mark my words, they are _not_ here because some accident blew up their school - it's probably because they let students like these run amok!" he finished leaving the classroom and slamming the door behind him.

"Well… that was interesting!" Sarah said, looking at Ginny in a whole new light.

"Where the hell did you guys learn how to pull off that kind of magic?" Chris asked, eyes narrowed with jealousy.

"The patronus charm _is_ quite advanced," Ben chimed in, clearly impressed. "How long have you been casting it?"

"Since my third year," Harry said, shuffling his feet. He was clearly uncomfortable with the subject matter as it was so intertwined with the past they had all agreed to leave behind. He looked at Hermione, eyes wide with fear that people might start asking him questions he really couldn't answer.

"Harry taught us in his fifth, my fourth," Ginny spoke up, only to have Harry round on her, the exasperated look on his face clearly saying that this was _not_ the direction he had been hoping to move this conversation. It wasn't until Draco spoke up, that Harry started to relax.

"Hey Potter, think you could teach the rest of us? I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that that's some fantastic magic, and I wouldn't mind learning it myself."

When a chorus of, "hell yeah," rang out around the classroom, Harry rubbed the back of his neck thinking, and finally agreed asking them to move their desks around the edges of the classroom.

By the end of the period, the entire class was exhausted. Neville, Ginny, and Hermione had all helped Harry instruct the others on how to properly cast the charm and which types of memories would give them the power they needed to create a corporeal patronus. Near the end of class, Ms. Carter came in just in time to see a flush faced Pansy finally gasp with delight as a delicate, but fierce looking Maine Coon cat erupted from the tip of her wand, only to start chasing Ben's patronus which had taken the form of a stork. Nobody noticed her entrance except Harry as they were all so entranced with their productions. Draco's patronus had taken the form of a rather large snow leopard, while Theo had only managed to produce a wisp. Sarah and Chris hadn't managed to produce anything at all, but were having a great deal of fun watching Jake's coyote chase Kate's fox until they both disappeared.

The newer casters of the charm weren't able to sustain their patronus for extended periods of time and they tended to be a bit wispy and transparent. Harry had been incredibly proud that as many of them had been able to get a sustained shape at all. _I guess it's easier to focus on happy memories when you don't have so many bad ones in the way_ he thought, regretful that his experiences had been so dark, but unable to begrudge these kids their normal childhood.

"I see you've all been incredibly busy this period," Ms. Carter said finally, amazed at the sight before her. Startled, every patronus in the room except for Harry's stag disappeared in a whisper of silver mist. With a smile, Harry whispered, " _finite,_ " and his patronus disappeared as he came to a stop in front of Ms. Carter, putting his hand on Hermione's shoulder.

"Yes ma'am. There was a certain… disagreement about the core course material. It seemed some of my classmates and I had some expertise on the matter, so we decided to share it with our new friends," Harry said calmly, trying to feel out the situation.

"I see," Ms. Carter said, pursing her lips and looking around at each of the students. "Is that how all of you see how this went down here today?"

Ben stepped forward, clearing his throat, "Dean, Mr. Oliver was wrong and all Hermione did was point that out. 'One repays a teacher badly, if one always remains nothing but a pupil.'"

Ms. Carter raised an eyebrow. "I'll let the matter drop if any one of you can tell me whom Ben has just quoted," she said with a smirk.

"Friedrich Nietzsche," Hermione said immediately, standing tall.

"That settles it then. Apparently I need to find a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, know of any good ones?" Ms. Carter asked, flippantly.

At this, a chorus of chuckles and sniggers wormed their way around the room as the Hogwarts students attempted to control their laughter.

"Respectfully Miss, I'm not sure anyone from Hogwarts could provide a good recommendation there, our professors don't usually last longer than a year," Neville managed to get out, as Ms. Carter looked at them all quizzically.

"Well alright then, I suppose I'm on my own. Now don't any of you think that this kind of subordination will be tolerated here at WAM. It just so happens that I found Mr. Oliver a complete d-" she stopped herself. "A completely disagreeable man, and therefore I had been searching for his replacement come the end of term. As it stands, I have a bit of knowledge on the subject, so I will take over his class for now. That is, if none of you have any objections?" she asked, staring at them all pointedly.

"Of course not miss!"

"No ma'am."

"Absolutely not."

"Alright then. Class dismissed."

* * *

"That school day was _intense_ ," Jake said, flopping into a common area arm chair, loosening his tie.

"Too fucking right," Chris said, following suit while dropping his backpack on the floor. As the girls walked in, followed by Harry, Draco and Theo. They all flopped in different seats and just sat there, completely zoning out.

Kate finally sat up and said, "Who's hungry? I'm always famished after powerful magic like that and we missed supper while we were hanging around perfecting that charm. I need _sugar_!"

Everyone perked up at this point thinking that an evening of treats and relaxation was exactly what the mediwitch ordered. Hermione loved the idea as it reminded her of a PJ party she'd had with her muggle girlfriends at school before Hogwarts, and she said as much.

"Oooooh, PJ party!" Sarah said, loving the idea. "OK everyone, go get into your comfiest clothes, and meet back here. Kate, Jake and I are going to drop down to the kitchens and get some edibles. We may, or may not have an arrangement with a couple of the house elves in the kitchens," she said with a wink.

Hermione looked ready to launch into her spiel about house elf welfare, but Harry was quick to pop a hand across her mouth and change the subject. "Right then, back here in half an hour?"

Kate, Jake, and Sarah made their way back to the seventh year common area about twenty minutes later, arms full of sweets and other munchies. Jess sat on the couch, braiding Hermione's hair as she sat on the floor in front of her. Neville sat next to Jess talking to Harry who was sitting in the chair next to them.

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Kate. She unloaded her arms of food onto the table and opened a bag of chocolate candies and taking out all of the red ones.

"What are you doing Kate?" Jake asked curiously, watching as she separated her candy by color.

"Eating the red ones last, of course!"

Harry and Hermione laughed while the majority of the group looked confused. "Don't worry about it…" Harry said, still chuckling to himself. _Her sense of humor kills me_ , he thought to himself, looking at her fondly.

"My most recent letter from home," answered Harry, running a hand through his hair and getting back to her original question. "Seems as though Ron is enjoying Auror training, though from the sounds of things it's a bit more than he bargained for," he said, casting a side glance at Hermione who snorted ungraciously.

"I'll bet," she murmured, tight lipped.

Ginny, catching the tail end of this conversation as she walked in holding two letters in her hand. "George is asking if we've found a premises for the American chapter of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes yet," rolling her eyes. "And Mum wants a detailed explanation of every move I've made since I stepped on the continent, and insisted I say hello to both you and Harry," she finished, gesturing at Hermione with her chin while looking at Harry, who shook his head.

"No, I didn't get one, Ginny," Hermione answered knowing what Ginny was silently asking Harry. "Not that I expected one anyway."

"I'm sure he just got busy Hermione, I wouldn't take it personally -" Harry started.

"Oh Harry, please stop defending him. Ron looked over me _yet again,_ and I'm completely fine with it," she finished, stern, but not unkind. Harry and Ginny traded worried looks until Hermione looked up and they hastily looked away from each other.

"Alright, enough with back home, let's just… paint our nails, or something," Hermione waved her hands toward the girls and went back to her room ostensibly to grab the needed supplies.

She walked back in the room carrying two predictably neutral nail polish colors, just as Pansy walked in. The two paused, looking at one another, Hermione with a slightly apprehensive look on her face, and Pansy's completely aloof.

"There's no way I'm painting them the muggle way! Honestly Granger, are you a witch, or aren't you? I have the perfect charm to color them."

Kate sat up, "Oh, I want to learn this charm!"

Jess picked up her wand as Hermione resumed her seat to tame the flyaways already trying to escape from the braid she'd finished just moments before. "Oh me too! Jake let me do your nails!"

"Uh, no, I don't think so! You girls do your girl things."

Sarah looked hopefully at Harry and Neville, which they both took as their cue to get out of dodge. Harry got up quickly, "C'mon Neville, Jake. Let's go find the other guys and leave these girls to do… whatever it is girls do," he finished quickly, ushering the other boys out and clearly hoping no one would elaborate on what it is exactly that girls did when they were alone together.

"Oh, perfect, I never thought they'd leave," Sarah snickered as the guys walked down the hallway in search of the others. "Ok, so spill it Kate. What's going on with you and Harry? I mean _really_ going on?"

"Well, he has very _nimble_ fingers," she answered with a straight face. Even though her honesty came naturally on most occasions, she felt herself not really wanting to divulge how slow her and Harry were taking things. They hadn't had sex, but that is what she actually found quite attractive. He wasn't just trying to get a piece of ass. She liked him, a lot more than she cared to admit right now.

Sarah rolled her eyes at Kate. "You know that is not what I mean. You like him, don't you? I've never seen you spend so much time with the same boy for more than a week."

Kate turned to Sarah cursing her for knowing exactly what she was thinking, "Well, Sarah, tell me. What's really going on with you and Ginny?"

Ginny flushed bright red, but Sarah wasn't daunted. "I like spending time with Ginny. I think she may be my _new_ best friend."

Laughing, Kate rounded on Hermione, "What about you and Draco? There is definitely something going on there!"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know honestly. I like being around him, but we have a history."

Pansy coughed audibly. Kate mistaking Pansy's cough, wagged her eyebrows and asked, "Oh, what kind of history? A fun one?"

Pansy answered before Hermione, "No, not a fun one. I am, however, really loving fucking Theo everywhere around campus."

All the girls squealed with laughter and Hermione was, for the first time ever, grateful for Pansy's loud mouth. "Pansy, so how do you charm your nails?" Hermione asked quickly, hoping the girls went along with the change of subject.

Pansy taught them the spell, which was really quite simple in Hermione's opinion. The girls sat around for the next half hour changing the color over and over again. Hermione finally decided on teal, while Ginny picked a candy apple red. Kate was having so much fun, her nails resembled a shocking lime green one minute then a bright yellow the next. Sarah and Jess chose colors that matched their pajamas, while Pansy having created the spell had gone a little more complex and charmed her nails to be tipped with a pink zebra print.

Manicures and pedicures complete the girls sat around trading gossip, looking at muggle magazines that Kate had bought and debating whether Brad Pitt, or Johnny Depp was better looking. Sarah sat braiding Ginny's long hair into pigtails when Jake peeked his head around from the hallway, "Is whatever girls do when guys aren't around over yet?"

"Depends on what you really think we do when you aren't around," Sarah smirked at Jake giving him a look of mischief.

Jake returned the look, and shouted over his shoulder, "All clear, guys."

The guys proceeded to litter the rest of the common area, taking up seats wherever they could. Ben argued tirelessly that Johnny Depp was by far better looking than Brad Pitt with anyone that would listen. Theo surprisingly took part in this argument and interjected that Leonardo DiCaprio could outstrip both guys.

When Jess made a groan inducing comment regarding _real_ men who wore leather jackets and rode motorcycles, Neville decided they'd be first to say 'goodnight' and walked them back to Jess' room blushing furiously.

"Great," Pansy whined, staring down the hallway as they walked into her room. "Theodore, I'm sleeping in your room tonight," she demanded, half annoyed. "I'm not going anywhere near that room with Neville and Jess doing Merlin knows what in there."

Grinning and using this moment to his advantage, Theo asked, "Ready for bed, then?" Pansy stood up, grabbed his hand and walked towards the boys hallway. Ben glanced after them, slightly forlorn expression on his face, until Hermione and Draco pulled him into their debate regarding the theory of hieroglyphs and logograms. Harry and Kate sat together in a chair quietly talking, and in a world all their own.

Jake, Sarah, and Ginny took up a game of Spoons in the corner. "OK Sarah, if I win this game we go back to your room and smoke that joint I have," Jake gambled.

"And if Ginny, or I win, then we go back to my room and smoke that joint you have," Sarah offered with a wink.

It didn't take long for the game to finish, and the three of them got up and gathered their things, Sarah calling over her shoulder to Kate.

"Hey Kate - you want in?"

"You're damn right I do, c'mon Harry," she said, grabbing his hand and joining the group. Harry, not sure how to proceed given his awkwardness with Ginny, caught her eye and raised an eyebrow silently asking if she was OK with this development. She thought for a moment and shrugged good naturedly, obviously not too concerned about it. In all honesty, they were both so tied up in their new relationships that they hadn't given a second thought to one another. I guess, if nothing else, this just confirmed that they were better off as friends.

Kate having not missed a beat, was looking between the two with an increasing look of suspicion when she heard Hermione giggle. She whirled pinning Hermione with her fiercest glare and demanded, " _What_ am I missing?"

Hermione, loving the chance to get back at Ginny for all the trouble she'd caused her over the years was all too happy to share, "Oh nothing, just that Ginny and Harry used to date."

Ginny and Harry both turned on Hermione wearing twin looks of utter betrayal. Hermione was feeling incredibly pleased with her payback until she noticed the looks one both Jake and Kate's faces. _Uh oh_ she thought guiltily, _looks like I've caused trouble in paradise_. Before she could pull her foot from her mouth, Kate laughed loudly and said, "Oh, is that _all_?" And grabbed Sarah and Harry's arms, dragging them back to Sarah's room with Ginny and Jake following in their wake.

"Ginny, have you ever smoked weed?" Sarah asked casting an odor preventing charm as she walked in and shutting the door behind them all.

Watching her, and noticing Sarah had a devious look in her eye, a look she was quickly becoming accustomed to, she said with some trepidation, "No, I haven't."

"It's kind of tricky to get the hang of how to inhale. It depends on whether you're smoking from a pipe, a joint, or a bong, but either way, you inhale it down deep and try to hold your breath letting it really sink in. This is a joint," she said, holding up what looked like thinly rolled paper. Sarah looked at Ginny and noticed the frown of concentration she had, like she was worried she wouldn't do it right, and decided to take a different tact. Kate looked at Sarah's devilish grin, and knew which way she was going with this. Catching Sarah's eye, she nodded with a grin of her own spreading slowly, ear to ear. She decided that this would be a perfect introduction for Harry as well.

"There is another way though, let us show you..."

Sarah took the joint in her fingers, licking her lips and then sliding the joint in and out of her mouth against her lips, moistening the paper. "You have to 'christen it' as we say, it keeps it from canoeing - burning unevenly on one side," she clarified. The joint now ready, she held the tip of her wand to it until it burned amber. Smoke swirled from the wrapped cigarette, filling the room with a rich, herbaceous smell which quickly evaporated by what Ginny assumed was the charm Sarah had cast when she shut the door. She licked her lips again, pinching the end and pursing her lips on the tip. Ginny watched as she inhaled, cheeks sucking in. _Why am I suddenly turned on. Is this what weed does to you?_ Ginny thought.

She watched as Sarah passed the joint to Kate, who did the same thing and started leaning into Harry. Her head snapped back as Sarah leaned close to her, still holding the smoke in her lungs. She came closer to Ginny's face, softly grasping her face between both hands until her lips brushed hers. Instinctively, Ginny opened her mouth and Sarah moved in, completely covering her mouth and let the smoke drift between them. Sarah used her tongue to push smoke and tease Ginny all at the same time. Ginny, shocked at the contact, drew a deep breath and inhaled the smoke that tasted of the herb that created it, but also subtly of something sweet that Ginny knew was just... Sarah. It burned pleasantly as she felt her lungs expand. Sarah's tongue gently licked her lips as she held the smoke in. Finally, she pulled away giving Ginny a nod to blow the smoke out.

Harry was remarkably turned on from the illicit kiss, yet feeling incredibly awkward like they were intruding on a private, and intimate moment. He reached over and squeezed Kate's hand as she smiled at him, and rose. Harry looked up at her quizzically, but one look at her face and whatever he saw there had him standing quickly and following her from the room. At the threshold, Kate looked back and waved her fingers at Sarah who'd gotten concerned when she'd gotten up to leave. She mouthed the words, "I'm fine, just tired," followed by, "Be safe," nodding towards Ginny and Jake, who were leaned together, talking quietly, unaware of what was going on around them. Sarah, appreciating her friend, and eager to get back to Jake and Ginny, smiled softly and nodded, watching Kate close the door to her room behind her.

Ginny, remarkably turned on, stopped talking as Sarah rejoined them. She caught Jake eyeing the two of them and drew a deep breath thinking, _What the hell - when in Rome?_ She quirked an eyebrow at Sarah, holding her hand out for the joint. Sarah, totally intrigued, passed the joint to Ginny, holding her breath slightly. Ginny pursed her lips over the end of the joint as she'd seen Sarah do, and sucked lightly, pulling a small cloud of smoke into her mouth. She tilted her hand, put it on the side of Jake's face and leaned down, putting her lips over his, giving Jake his very first shotgun kiss.

* * *

Harry didn't say anything as Kate led him down the hallway towards her room. His head was fuzzy, but he'd be lying if the look on Kate's face hadn't shot straight to his gut. _She'd looked sad_ , Harry thought to himself, and the idea sobered him immensely. _What could be making her sad?_ He asked himself, trying to dissect the past few days for anything that could have made her upset. If there was one thing Harry prided himself on, it was avoiding moments like this by protecting the feelings of the people he was with. Ginny had found it suffocating, and had lamented his apparent inability to be vulnerable with her because he was too busy trying to protect her from his own anxieties and fears. It was something he vowed to work on when they broke up as he could see it being a problem in future relationships. He lost a good woman in Ginny, though he suspected they would have ended up here in the end, but that didn't mean he'd make the same mistake twice. Especially not with Kate, never with Kate.

They entered Kate's room as they'd done many times before, only this time Kate was restless. She went to her desk that was covered with spell books and rolls of parchment that she kept picking up and putting back down, clearly at a loss.

"Kate love, what's wrong?" Harry asked, concerned by how quiet she was. The Kate he knew didn't enjoy silence unless there was some serious snogging going on.

"How long were you and Ginny together?" she asked quietly.

Stunned, Harry answered honestly, "About a year? I'm not really sure honestly, things were… hectic."

She nodded like she understood though he knew she didn't. He wasn't sure what all Hermione had told her, but he knew his friend and she would have spared Kate as many details as she could.

"Kate, why are you asking me about Ginny? You know we're over right? It was ages ago, we're both much happier where we are now. Honestly, looking back, we never would have worked."

"Why?"

Exasperated and feeling hopeless with this line of questioning. Harry rubbed the back of his neck furiously, then switched to his face hoping to clear his head. "Ginny… She wanted more from me than I could give her. She had expectations of what a relationship should be like because of the ones she'd had to emulate and I just couldn't be that for her," he said sadly, feeling the hurt that he just couldn't be enough all over again. Taking a deep breath, he finished his thought, "I… had a shite childhood." Stumbling over his thoughts, "It can make it hard for me to have these types of conversations honestly."

He shrugged his shoulders like his shirt was too tight and grew quiet, lost in his thoughts. _How do I tell her I'd never have been able to have this conversation with Gin?_

"If it's so hard for you, why are you having this one with me?" she asked quietly, permeating to the crux of the issue with such precision that Harry's head whipped up to look at her, certain she was reading his mind. He stayed quiet for awhile, contemplating his answer, and he couldn't say how much he appreciated Kate's ability to wait for him to collect his thoughts.

"Because… I've learned some things," he said wryly, sitting on the bed and thinking of all the arguments he and Gin had had near the end of their relationship. "I… appreciate that it's difficult to be in a relationship with someone who keeps all of their feelings close to the vest. I'm not _good_ at expressing myself mind," he warned, obviously scared that she might overestimate his ability to change.

"I dunno, I think you're doing a pretty good job at the moment," she said kicking him lightly. She sighed deeply, and then held her breath, gearing up for her final question. "Did you love her?"

Harry met Kate in the eye, and let every shield he'd ever had drop, hoping she could see the depth of his feelings there. "Yes, I did, but I don't anymore," he said firmly, grabbing Kate by the hand and silently pleading for her to believe him.

Kate's eyes had closed when she heard the word _yes_ leave his lips, but she gave a deep sigh when he'd finished his sentence. Satisfied, she move closer to him, nudging his feet apart so she could stand between his knees. She hugged his head to her abdomen, running her hands through his hair. Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and had been rubbing her back softly, rhythmically. She looked down at him, just as he looked up at her and she just _knew._

 _This is the moment I've been waiting for_ , she thought to herself. She'd been surprisingly upset upon learning that Harry and Ginny had been an item. Her and Ginny seemed so _different_ that she couldn't imagine him being interested in the pair of them. The biggest surprise in the whole debacle had been how insecure she'd felt. Ginny was a beautiful girl, and clearly very talented. The bat bogey hex she'd cast on Theo had been the work of a genius, so she'd already felt a little bit intimidated by her skill. Then she'd really gotten to know her and she was just so… honest, and nice! Kate was honest, but she never really felt _nice_. Everyone tended to tease her about her honesty like it was a character flaw, but no one ever said that about Ginny. _I think part of me always thought he was just up for a quick lay_ she thought to herself, slightly ashamed at thinking that poorly of him. _I guess that's what I get for dating Americans_ , she thought with a smile. Looking down into his bright green eyes, Kate saw nothing but… admiration there. Harry adored her, he treated her with respect, and asked her opinion like he really cared what she had to say. This was completely new to her and she was learning to trust it. _Perhaps it's time to show him I trust him_ , she thought putting her hands on his shoulders and pushing him backwards onto the bed.

She crawled up his body, pressing hers as tightly against him as she could manage and still keep going until she reached his mouth and kissed him, long and soft. Sitting up, and moving her body so she was straddling him, Kate reached down and grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling it slowly up, and over her head. She heard Harry gulp, and smiled smugly, knowing that the image of her clad in nothing but her pyjama bottoms had done that to him. _Done a little more than that_ she thought, rubbing herself against the prominent bulge in his own set of pyjama bottoms.

Harry hissed, trying to maintain the iron grip he had on his hormones. He'd been trying incredibly hard since Kate and him had first started getting close to be respectful, maintaining firm control and working with any boundaries Kate had set. He needed her to know that he didn't launch into things like this lightly, and going straight for the quidditch hoop wouldn't do that. They'd fooled around, but it was like Kate had known he was trying to be good, and so she hadn't pushed him. She was pushing him now though, and it took everything in him not to grind up against her as she moved causing delicious friction against his length. If she kept this up, especially if she kept kissing him in that way that drugged him better than the pot ever could, he'd never be able to keep himself in line.

Kate stopped kissing him and looked down at the slight beading of sweat that had started to accumulate on Harry's forehead, not to mention the fierce look of concentration he wore as he kept his hands locked to her hips as she continued her ministrations with her pelvis. She smiled, feeling warm bliss work its way from her heart right down to her toes. Taking his hands from her hips, she placed them on her stomach and slid them up her torso until he was cupping both of her breasts. His eyes never left hers once as she guided him where she wanted him.

"Are you sure?" He asked, breathless, and the look of hope in his eyes warmed her heart even further, though she hadn't thought it possible.

"Absolutely."

The word hadn't even completely left her mouth when Harry had switched their positions, thrusting his knee between her thighs and started kneading her center while kissing her senseless. His one hand had a firm grip on her hip, while the other one found it's way unerringly to her breast, softly working her, grazing her nipple and generally driving her mad.

Not one to be out paced, Kate reached down and slid her hands down his trousers, searching for the hardness she knew would be waiting for her there. When she heard him groan, she was sick of all of this clothing. Reaching over to the bedside table, Kate managed to get her hands on her wand and cast a nonverbal _evanesco_. Harry broke their kiss in complete shock as skin met skin. He took the moment to take a deep breath, and lock eyes with the beautiful witch below him, _his witch_ , he thought, and asked her again.

"You're sure? Be sure, Kate."

In answer, she rocked her hips forward so his hardness found her core and he slid home.

 _Perfect._


	12. New Friends, Unexpected Places

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story. **  
**

 **A/N:** A shout out to **Freya_Ishtar** for our cover photo! It's just too amazing to not show her love again, and again, and again. Have you read any of works? You really should!

This chapter is a nice, little fluffy filler... Just setting the stage for the next couple of chapters `hint hint

* * *

 **~Chapter 12 - New Friends, Unexpected Places~**

It grew late, and Chris walked in through the door. "Where'd you take off to? Getting some random ass again?" Ben asked, noticing Chris' wrinkled shirt and hair sticking up in all directions.

Smirking, Chris shrugged and answered nonchalantly, "I get bored easily."

Laughing, not surprised at all by Chris' answer, Ben nodded towards his room and asked, "C'mon then, play a game of chess with me before bed?"

When they left, Draco and Hermione realized they were the only ones left in the common area. The silence grew a little thick, but was broken by Hermione yawning widely. "I guess we should get to bed."

Standing up, Draco said, "Yeah, probably."

Hermione stared at the girl's corridor, biting her bottom lip. Draco noticed her hesitation and asked, "What's wrong?"

Hermione smiled sheepishly, "Well Sarah, Ginny, and Jake are in my room and I saw Harry and Kate go back to her's." She looked around the common room and shrugged, transfiguring her discarded jumper into a blanket, "I guess I'm sleeping in here tonight."

"You can't sleep on the sofa," Draco argued. "If Jake is in your room, you can sleep in his bed."

"Draco, I can't… I don't know him well enough to sleep in his bed… I'd sleep in Harry's but I don't want to sleep in the room with Chris. I barely know him," she argued. "I'll be fine out here."

His aristocratic background would not allow him to sleep comfortably in his room while she slept out here in the common area, on a horribly uncomfortable couch. _It just isn't … polite_ he thought to himself, and he shook his head. "How about a compromise?"

Hermione stared at him, curious to see what he was doing, "Okay."

Draco pulled out his wand, and in an instant the sofa lengthened and widen to look like a small bed. He grinned at her confused look and pointed to the second sofa and did the same thing. He then transfigured another blanket and a couple of soft down pillows and sheets on both sofas.

Hermione thought about protesting, but didn't want to be rude. In all honesty, she appreciated the company and was impressed by his quick transfiguration, so instead she smiled at him.

"Do you want some tea before bed?" she asked, suddenly nervous. Her stomach was doing flips and she needed to calm down before she attempted sleep.

"Sure," he agreed, fixing the sofa with a sheet. "Whatever you're having is fine."

Hermione went to the side board and began to fix a pot of tea. As she waited for the kettle she had charmed to boil, she couldn't help but think about sleeping in the same room as Draco Malfoy. They got along really well now, and she wasn't fool enough to try and lie to herself about the mounting attraction she had for him. _Could I really_ do _anything about it though?_ She asked herself. The kettle began to whistle that it was finished, interrupting her thoughts on the matter, and she finished steeping the tea and brought Draco a cup back to the couches now turned beds. They sat on their beds chatting while they drank their tea. Soon after they drained their cups, when Hermione had yawned mid sentence for the second time in as many minutes, Draco suggested they both get some sleep.

"Well… Good night Draco," Hermione said, a little bit shy.

"Good night Hermione," he replied with a small smile.

With that, they both laid down and began to drift off to sleep.

* * *

Kate woke in her room with a parched mouth. Groaning, she untangled herself from Harry and walked into the hall.

" _Lumos,_ " she whispered hoping she didn't wake anyone up. Once in the common area, she noticed blankets moving out of the corner of her eye. Walking over, she saw Hermione and Draco's forms laying on modified sofas and smiled. _What are they doing out here,_ she wondered to herself. As she turned to go back toward the cupboard in search of a cup, the wand light caught a vibrant red scar on Hermione's left arm. Frowning, she brought the light back over to her for a closer look.

Seeing the word _Mudblood_ etched clear as day into her friends skin, Kate shrieked, "What the fuck!?"

The after effects of living in war time were many and long lasting. None the least of which was the ability to jump out of a deep sleep with a wand drawn, instantly and acutely aware of your surroundings. Draco and Hermione both found themselves standing, wands drawn and pointed at their would-be attacker as Harry ran out from Kate's room, which just happened to be the closest to the common area.

"What? What's going on," Hermione asked quickly, scanning the room and not seeing the threat. Draco and Harry followed suit, eyes darting back and forth, scanning the room for a perceived threat.

Kate raised her hands in surrender, wand up. "It's just me! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. You can lower your wands now… God, I didn't know you would react that way!" she said, breathless and clearly startled by the response she'd gotten.

Hermione dropped her wand taking several deep breaths and sitting abruptly back on the couch.

"Good Godric Kate. You scared the shit out of us! Draco, Harry lower your wands." They lowered their wands immediately, Draco rubbing his face vigorously and taking a seat on his bed while Harry looked anxiously between Hermione and Kate.

"Kate, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" she mimicked furiously, grabbing Hermione's arm. "What's _wrong_? What the _fuck_ is _this_? When did this happen? It wasn't here when we went to bed!"

Hermione paled, realizing that her glamour had worn off while she was sleeping. She hadn't remembered to recast it last night before falling asleep, _Dammit!_ she screamed in her head, completely kicking herself. _How could I be so stupid? I should have known better…_

"Um… actually…" she shook her head, feeling tears of embarrassment fill her eyes.

Harry grabbed Hermione's arm out of Kate's grip. "Leave her alone Kate," he hissed. Turning to Hermione and taking both her hands in his he met her eyes and said, "It's ok 'Mione." When she nodded, he turned to assess the situation. "Malfoy, will you take her into another room? I need to talk to Kate."

Draco gently grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her into his room, shutting the door quietly behind him both to give Hermione some privacy, and to let Harry handle Kate.

Once the door was closed, Hermione sat on Draco's bed letting silent tears fall from her lashes.

"Hermione, why are you crying?" Draco asked confused as he knelt beside her on the floor. "Don't cry," he said soothingly.

"I'm so stupid," she sobbed, rubbing her left arm fiercely. "I forgot to charm it before bed. I never forget! I can't believe Kate saw it! I'm so stupid."

"Stop it," Draco growled, his face suddenly twisted in anger and his grey eyes storming. She looked up at him startled and saw the man she had gotten to know over the past few months replaced with the boy she knew from years past.

"Stop blaming yourself! It's not your fault. You forgot a charm, so what? Kate's angry, who cares? You are the bravest witch I know. You withstood torture from the craziest bint in the fucking world and you have a scar to prove it. It's a badge of courage. Do you know how many people survived Bella? I can count them on one hand Hermione. _One_... I'm one of them, I've _been_ on the other side of her curse. I know how painful it is, to wish for death as your blood boils within your veins. _Two_ … You. You withstood her for more curses than I ever did and _still_ didn't give her the answers she was looking for! Don't you understand how incredible you are?" he demanded finally, breath heaving at the force of his words. He took a minute to try to catch his breath and calm his irrational anger at her self flagellation. When he'd dragged back his temper, he looked her dead in the eye and said so quietly, she could scarcely hear him, "That scar doesn't define you. You and I both know that word isn't who you are."

"We do?" she whispered, tears staining her cheeks but no longer falling. She stared at Draco, trying to absorb his words. "It's hard for me to remember that. I still think you _do_ think it defines me, or at least that it did."

"I did," he admitted shame faced, sitting down beside her. "But I haven't since that day." He brought his index finger to a small shiny indent on her neck, the same indent where Bellatrix held the knife to her throat during the standoff, "You have nothing to be ashamed of, not like I do." He waved his wand over his own left arm and his faded dark mark glared back at them.

"You don't have to be ashamed either Draco," Hermione comforted him. He scoffed and shook his head, trying to turn away. She caught his chin in her fingers and brought his face around so he would look at her. "You don't have to be ashamed. You did nothing wrong, nothing that anyone else in your situation wouldn't do."

"Would you have taken the mark?" he challenged looking deep into her honey colored eyes.

Hermione took a moment to think, knowing he wouldn't trust a knee jerk response. She thought what she would do if Voldemort had her parents, had Harry and Ron, and the rest of the Weasleys. _Would I have taken the mark in that situation?_ She thought to herself, trying to override the feelings of panic and fear at the thought of it actually coming to pass.

"Yes," she said finally, drawing herself up straight and meeting his gaze. "If my choices were to take the mark and save my family, or not take it and kill everyone I love? You're bloody right I would take that mark. You are not alone in that. You think we all judge you because you have done bad things, but we've all done bad things. Maybe not to the same degree, maybe not in the exact same ways, but none of us are innocent. Your reason for joining his ranks is a lot better than what Bellatrix's was."

"Was it?" he asked, sitting on the bed, clearly tortured by it. "I wanted it at first," he confided, almost daring her to turn away from him. "I thought it would bring my family power, prestige, and glory. All it brought was pain and suffering. Out of the two of us, I am the idiot. I'm the stupid one Hermione. You're brave and I'm the moron."

"You aren't," she insisted caressing his marked arm, staring into those silver eyes she was really starting to adore. "You're damaged. _I'm_ damaged. We're all fucking _damaged,_ Draco. We're products of our fucked up lives. I mean, you a little more so than me, but..." she teased, poking her elbow into his rib, trying to lighten the mood.

Draco looked down at where her hand touched his mark. He felt fire there, but not the fiendfyre that he used to associate with his mark, but a slow burning lick of flames that spread throughout his body. _This is new,_ he thought.

Hermione sighed, "Why am I always breaking down around you? Anytime I've been emotional, it's been with you. Our relationship has gone from hostile to... I'm not even sure what to call it. Supportive? Friendly? Merlin, who would have thought we would end up here, like this?"

There was a knock on the door and Harry opened and stuck his head in. He saw his friend sitting on the bed with his former enemy. Suddenly he realized that he didn't feel any animosity toward the situation.

"Uh, Hermione, if you have a moment I think Kate is calm enough to talk now."

"Go on," Draco encouraged her. "Go and talk to Kate, it must have been a shock for her."

Hermione nodded and went to the common area, Harry and Draco lagging behind so as to give the girls some privacy. They watched silently as Hermione sat with her new friend and they chatted. Kate began to cry softly, which inevitably led Hermione to do the same. Kate pulled her friend into a hug and stroked her hair, sitting silently and catching Harry's eye, giving him a wan smile and a nod.

Harry moved into the room and sat on the coffee table in front of the girls, "So, is everything ok now?"

"As ok as it can be given the circumstances," Kate sniffled. "Look, I don't know what happened to you guys beyond the meagre explanation Hermione just gave me," she said, shooting a glare at Hermione. "But I know it's not my business. Draco said you have been through a lot, that you are strong and I should just let you be. You know I'm here for you, right?"

"Yes Kate, we know! We _have_ all been through alot, and not all of it is pretty, but this is just a reminder of one really bad day that I would sooner forget. Please don't tell anyone about this, or what you do know. We just want to move on, not drudge it all up and rehash it."

Kate nodded as Draco sat down next to Harry. She was clearly deep in thought, but finally came to some sort of decision regarding her internal debate. She picked up her wand and held it over her heart when Draco took a long deep breath.

"I, Kate Mills, swear on my magic that I won't tell anyone anything you guys have told me tonight."

"Thank you Kate," Draco said sincerely, reaching out to shake her hand in complete gratitude.

Harry looked a bit confused at the look of near reverence he saw on Draco's face, and Hermione took a minute to clear her throat of the lump that had formed when her new friend had said what she did.

"Harry, Kate just took a wizard's oath to never reveal anything we've told her tonight. The consequences for breaking that are… drastic," she said, grasping Kate's hand and giving it a squeeze.

"Whoa…" Harry said, frowning while looking at Kate.

"Don't look at me like that Harry, I'm perfectly safe as long as I keep my trap shut. Let me protect you."

Hermione smiled knowing that this was the exact aspect of this situation that was a problem for Harry. He was used to protecting others, and having other people love him enough to step in on his behalf was a new thing for him.

Draco was seriously impressed by the bravery and selflessness Kate had shown when taking that oath. He looked at her again and he noticed her looking at his arm. He looked down and remembered with a start that his glamour had faded now too. He paled, reaching for the non existent long sleeves on the t-shirt he was wearing and locked eyes with Hermione who gave him an encouraging smile. "We all have mistakes in our past we would like to forget. Mine just happened to be pushed upon me since birth. It was apart of my heritage, what I was brought up to believe. It will always be the biggest mistake of my life," he said quietly.

"So… let me get this straight. I know I don't know much about what went on overseas, but I do know that it wasn't pretty. You guys are OK with him... Being a… a..."

"I am," Hermione interrupted as she could see Draco growing paler. She looked at her new friend. "I told you earlier, Draco and I have a past and it's not a good past. In fact, he's one of the biggest arseholes I know." Harry and Draco both snorted at this. "But it doesn't mean that I can't forgive him for his… indiscretions. The circumstances were different over there, and not everyone will understand what choices that all of us have made, but… we understand each other and that's what important. We all hurt people that we love, in one way or another…" she looked at Harry hoping he'd understand she wasn't trying to hurt him now. "But we did it for the best possible reasons at the time."

"I am too," Harry agreed. "Malfoy and I have never gotten along, but being away has given us a chance to, well, not fight I guess? Start fresh is one way to put it. We've known each other for seven years, but this is the first time I feel like we've actually gotten to know each other. I'm okay with Mal...Draco. Man, that feels weird to say! I think I'll stick to Malfoy before my tongue swells up and falls off."

Hermione felt a giggle rise from her throat at this confession and then couldn't help but start laughing at the sight of Harry's queasy face. "Oh I'm sorry Harry, but the look on your face when you called him Draco, you looked like Ron when he belched up slugs second year."

Harry started laughing at the memory, but Draco didn't. He remembered that incident. That was the first time he had ever called Hermione mudblood.

"Hermione, I'm sorry I ever called you a mu… you know… I was stupid and arrogant and self important…"

"Draco, I know you're sorry, but you're still arrogant and self important," Hermione smirked punching him in the shoulder. "I already said I forgive you."

"I know you did, but I felt like I needed to apologize for it specifically. I've a lot to be sorry for, but that one… eats at me sometimes. I'm not sorry about the stuff I said to Potter though," he grinned as Harry punched him in the arm. "I am sorry for what I said to you over the years."

"I know, it's ok."

Kate looked at her friends and smiled, "Okay everyone, I don't know what it is with you three, every time I spend time with you it's always emotionally charged. Let's get some sleep, tomorrow is a busy day. Hermione, do you want to sleep in my room since yours is occupied?"

Hermione laughed and shook her head. She replaced the glamour on her arm and said, "No, I'm fine right here thanks. Go to bed you two, and get off of mine Kate so I can lay down."

Draco replaced his own charm and went to sit back on his sofa as Kate and Harry went back into Kate's room.

"Good night Draco," Hermione whispered in the darkness.

"Good night Hermione.

* * *

 **WAM Cafeteria**

Saturday morning Hermione got an interesting letter with the morning post.

"Oh 'Mione," Ginny leaned over her breakfast, seeing the parchment in her friend's fingers. "Is that from Ron?"

"Uh, no…" Hermione blushed and gave her a half smile from across the table. "It's not."

Harry, who was sitting next to her, looked over to her letter curiously. "Hermione, why is Viktor Krum writing you?" he asked, pointing to the return address at the bottom of the letter. The entire table of seventh year's stopped eating and looked up at the name of the famous Bulgarian seeker.

Kate, not able to contain herself, snatched the letter and started poring over it, completely fascinated. "I thought you weren't dating Krum, just went on one date back in fourth year. What's the story, huh, 'Mione?"

Grabbing her letter back, Hermione stuck her nose slightly in the air saying, "I'm not dating him, but we do still write once in awhile. We're friends, that's what _friends_ do."

"What does he want?" Theo asked with interest as he speared a piece of cantaloupe and stuck it in his mouth.

Hermione blushed even more, not able to meet Draco's eyes as he stared from beside her. "Um, he knows we're in the states and is here for a quidditch exhibition in Las Vegas. He wants to know if we want to go see them the weekend of Halloween."

"Who?" Ginny asked. "I thought you stopped writing to Krum years ago."

"I did, but I started again after the uh, wedding," Hermione answered with a look which meant after the end of the war. "Nothing's going on though, he's just a pen pal."

"Does Ron know?" Harry questioned.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Of course not, like I need the headache. You know how he is! Apparently, I'm not allowed to breathe near a guy who isn't a Weasley, or near you for that matter. Not that he thinks guys know I'm a girl at all, mind you, _he_ certainly never did."

"Forgetting about the blind boy no one knows about," Theo and Draco snickered.

"What is this about Halloween in Vegas?" Kate asked excitedly.

"Uh, yeah. Viktor wants to know if we want to go and spend the weekend there. He says we can stay at the team's hotel, or one nearby. I guess the league has rented out the entire block for the event. All I have to do is make a reservation and mention his name and there shouldn't be a problem. Do we want to go?"

The seventh year's looked at her incredulously. "Are you _kidding_!?" Jake scoffed. "Of course we want to go! Send him an owl now, and make the reservation - it's only a few weeks until Halloween." Everyone nodded with excitement and started talking rapid fire about what they'd bring, what they wanted to see while they were there, and of course meeting Viktor Krum.

Hermione looked over at Draco and saw a tight smile, he handed her a quill and a piece of parchment. "Are you sure?" she asked again, looking at Draco for an answer. He nodded in agreement, not trusting himself to speak. He wasn't sure why he felt a pang in his chest at the thought of the Bulgarian big head. Hermione turned to accept the offer on behalf of her friends and decided it would be best to floo call the hotel to reserve the rooms. She would do that after breakfast.

Kate and Sarah were talking about another shopping trip before the big weekend. Hermione was hoping she could skip that excitement. _I have enough clothes,_ she thought, but knowing Kate, that wouldn't be in the cards.

The group went sightseeing after Hermione made their reservations. They stopped first at the iconic Golden Gate Bridge with it's scenic views of the Golden Gate Strait, and the shoreline of the Pacific.

Theo argued that the name was completely wrong for a giant red bridge saying, "Why on earth would you call it the Golden Gate Bridge and then paint the bloody thing orange? I mean, it's over the _Golden Gate Strait_ , paint the thing yellow and call it a day." When he launched into his tirade about the attraction of coming to stare at a bridge, he really started to hit his stride, causing the group to burst out in hysterical fits of laughter. "I mean why do people come stare at a giant bridge anyways? Why is this considered a muggle attraction when it's tons of metal and doesn't fly, or do anything remotely fun?"

Hermione, trying to stifle her laughter at Theo's apparent outrage that this was considered a tourist attraction, tried to explain to him the wonders of the engineering required to build such a bridge, but upon glancing up at his glazed expression, gave it up as a lost cause.

They took a ride on a cable car, saw Coit Tower and got ice cream at Ghirardelli Square. Ginny got souvenirs for her family and muggle chocolate for her brothers from the ice cream shop that was really quite good.

Hermione took photos of everything. She laughed when she took a photo of Harry and Pansy called out, "That's quite enough, Creevey!" All of the Hogwarts students wore matching melancholy expressions even as they smiled at the memory of little Colin Creevey who would follow Harry around asking for his autograph. Neville suggested signing it and sending it to Dennis, Colin's little brother, as a souvenir and homage to the brave boy. Draco took the idea and ran with it, insisting all four Gryffindors get in a picture to send to Dennis, knowing that the boy would like that as well. They were his housemates and his brother's idols, his family would like a picture of them.

After he took their photo, Hermione insisted on a photo each of WAM students and Hogwarts students and then a group photo. She also took candids of all her friends throughout the day. She was used to Harry and Ginny acting goofy, but catching Theo making faces with Pansy and Neville was a treat. She caught one of Harry giving Kate a piggy back ride as they were walking down the street, and Kate even stole the camera and caught a photo of Draco and Hermione laughing at a joke that Ben was telling. It was a nice day of complete normalcy; seeing the city and of course some shopping. Kate had spotted some little boutique shops along the way and even managed to convince the boys to get a few new things, mostly because no one liked to argue with Kate. She was like Hermione with studying, you just didn't argue because you'd end up losing no matter what.

* * *

 **2 Weeks Later**

"This is going to be so much fun!" Ginny said from the hallway as she walked towards Hermione's room. Sarah, Pansy, and Kate were all excitedly chatting in the common area waiting for the rest of the seventh year to finish getting ready to go. It was Friday afternoon, right after their last class and they were getting ready to portkey to Las Vegas for the Quidditch Exhibition that Hermione had invited them to, courtesy of Viktor Krum. Jake and Chris were also in the common area kicking around a little ball of beans, or maybe it was seeds; It was some muggle contraption called a hackey sack, whatever that was. Ginny walked into Hermione's room to try to get her to finish packing.

"Kate!" Ginny yelled. "You better come in here and pack for her because she will not pack anything I'm telling her to bring!"

"No! I don't need Kate. I am fine packing for myself!"

Everyone laughed, knowing full well that if Kate went in there, there would be no jeans and jumpers for Hermione.

"Too late! I'm coming in and if I see one sweater that is the size of Neville I will burn it myself!"

A groan could be heard from the room which just elicited more laughter from the group.

Another 20 minutes and Hermione came out of the room arguing with Kate, "Why do I need those shorts? There is no way I'm going to wear those, they are shorter than my uniform!"

"They are called hot pants and you will wear them because you look hot in them!"

"They aren't even pants!"

"Hermione, stop! I've already told you, you aren't a centenarian, so stop fighting me! You _will_ lose. I don't care if you are an excellent dueller - I am an excellent shopper and I know exactly what will suit that perfect little body of yours. So, do me a favor and just shut your mouth and stop fighting me?" Kate begged, with a grin on her face and her hands held up in prayer.

Not buying this angelic act for a moment, Hermione made her own vow. "Kate! One of these days I will make you pay for this, and if you think I'm joking you might want to rethink that!"

"Yeah, whatever, you love me!" Kate retorted, clearly unconcerned.

"If you keep dressing me like Hooker Barbie, I may rethink that love!" Hermione spat.

"You'll thank me one day."

"Not today," she muttered under her breath, standing next to an amused Draco. "And what, pray tell, are _you_ smirking at?"

He laughed, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "I just find it… ironic, that's all!"

She pinned him with a glare and poked him firmly in the chest. "Just _what_ do you find ironic about this situation, Malfoy?"

He knew he should be concerned by that tone in her voice, but all it did was send a thrill through his belly. _Why is teasing her this way, so much more fun than being mean?_ he asked himself, wondering. "Oh, nothing…" he said, backing away, trying to put more space, or a piece of furniture between him and Hermione. "It's just that the 'brightest witch of our age', the smartest girl of all of Hogwarts, is scared of _fashion_."

Everyone within earshot burst out laughing, which only intensified as Hermione entered a thoroughly undignified chase of Draco throughout the common room which ended with Hermione pulling out her wand and putting Draco in a full body bind. As he toppled over landing flat on his back, Hermione sat on him. Removing the spell she said simply, "I'm not scared of fashion, I just like what I like."

"I feel compelled to mention that 'what you like' is hideous, and most certainly won't get you laid," Kate commented.

"Shut it Kate, who says I'm looking to get laid?"

"The star quidditch player you haven't seen for years who sent you an owl to invite you and twelve of your classmates to watch him play on his dime."

At this comment, Hermione looked down on her prisoner, who had clearly refrained from removing her bodily from her seat on his chest, only to find him staring at her with those stormy eyes of his.

"I'm paying for the rooms," Hermione argued, still staring into his eyes and knowing full well that everyone was grinning at her, "and Viktor and I are just friends, he knows that."

"Yeah, uh huh…" Kate answered disbelieving, watching the expression on Draco's face. Sometimes Hermione was not the smartest niffler of the litter.

"Anyways," Harry interrupted before Hermione could voice her retort. "The hotel sent us the portkey and we should be leaving in about two minutes, so everyone grab the ribbon."

Hermione stood up and offered Draco a hand. After a moment's pause, he took it and held it just a fraction too long. The moment was fleeting when Harry yelled for them to hurry and they grabbed the ribbon feeling the familiar sensation of being pulled through space, toward their weekend away.


	13. What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.  
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* * *

 **~Chapter 13 - What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas~**

Landing inside the plush wizarding hotel in Las Vegas, they immediately noticed quidditch players littering the lobby. It was a thrill knowing they were able to book rooms at the same hotel as the Bulgarian team as well, as some of the other teams that were entered in the exhibition.

Hermione, Harry, and Draco all went up to the desk to check the group into their rooms.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger and I reserved eight rooms for the weekend."

The witch at reception perked up at her name, "Oh yes! Miss Granger, it's a pleasure to meet you. I see you have reserved eight standard rooms right here, but because you are special guests, we have upgraded you to complimentary deluxe rooms with views of the pool and your own personal house elf for each room."

"Really? _Why?_ " Hermione gaped at the employee behind the desk.

"You are one of our VIP guests," the witch told her with a smile.

Hermione's mouth opened and closed like a landed fish. "But… but _why_ am I a VIP? What does that even _mean?_ "

Draco grabbed the pile of keys and smiled, his perfect white teeth gleaming back at the witch. "Thank you so much, we appreciate it," he said offering his arm to Hermione and the three of them walked back over to their friends.

"I don't understand," Hermione whispered. "Why would they do that, they don't know who I am?"

"Don't worry about it, maybe Krum said to take care of you," Harry muttered, not sure he liked that thought very much.

"Miss Granger," a wizard in an hotel uniform called out from the side of the desk.

Hermione looked over at him, "Yes?"

"Welcome, my name is Eric, I will be showing you to your suites."

Hermione blushed a vibrant shade of red as Ginny turned to her and mouthed, _suites_?

"Um, OK. You can just tell us how to get there; you don't really need to help us."

"Nonsense," Eric smiled brightly. "It is my pleasure. Just leave your bags here and I'll take you for a tour of the hotel and then up to your rooms."

Draco laughed offering Hermione his arm, and whispered in her ear, "I think you might as well give up, Miss V.I.P."

The group followed Eric from the wide reception area and down a hallway, while a few elves disapparated with their luggage. The walls were adorned with pictures of witches and wizards from all ages of time. Harry swore he saw a glimpse of Dumbledore, but when he looked back the frame was empty. Chris started a conversation with a young blonde witch in a black dress. He had to be dragged away by Kate while she scolded him, "You know Marilyn Monroe will flirt with anyone to get what she wants. I did a report on her in our fifth year. She's the most dangerous type of witch - not afraid to use a love charm on the paint that portrait is made with, I'd expect."

"Right though these glass doors is the pool, it is open 24 hours a day. The water and the air are always charmed to be a perfect temperature for optimal swimming and lounging. We will travel up the third floor where there is a health spa and sauna. I'm sure you will be able to find the nightclub on the other side of the hotel, as well as a restaurant and a bar on the top level. After following Eric through the hotel with Hermione and Ben asking the most ridiculous questions about the history of the hotel, they were led to their suite.

Once there, they found all the luggage in the main lounge along with an attractively arranged bouquet of flowers. A note was sticking from the bunch with a an elegant, large H written on the front. Kate, not wasting any time, sidled over to the flowers and stole the note to read it.

"Ha! Just friends huh?" she smirked at Hermione.

Hermione grabbed her note, "Do you have to be so nosy? At least let me read it first, since it is you know, _mine._ "

"You don't mind."

"You don't know me well enough, I will get you back."

Kate smiled and hugged her friend, "You know I love you, I'm only teasing. I didn't really read it except that it was from your _seeker_."

"He was just letting me know that he would see us tomorrow. They have a late practice tonight and then strict orders to stay in their rooms. Our tickets will be at the front desk, as well as a portkey to the event since it's in the desert," Hermione explained, leaving out the part where he was excited to reconnect with her. Viktor was handsome, but they never really had much in common other than a few steamy kisses and wandering hands in the library. She really hoped he hadn't got the wrong idea when she accepted his invitation. Shaking her head to lose _that_ particular train of thought, she got down to business.

"Now, apparently we have four suites that lead off this main lounge. Each suite has two bedrooms with two beds in each, adjoined by a shared bathroom.

"Harry and I will stay here," pointing to the door to the right. "I'm sure Draco wouldn't mind sharing a bathroom with us. Why don't you take the second bed with Hermione?" Kate grinned. She was tired of the dancing around Draco and Hermione were doing. Everyone could see that they liked each other.

"That's fine with me," Draco agreed as he turned and headed for the doors.

Kate took charge telling the group, "Okay, here are the keys. Figure out where you're sleeping and, get settled. Then we can meet back here, and figure out the rest of our day."

Everyone agreed and went their separate ways. Once unpacked, they decided that some time spent exploring the city was in order, and spent most of the afternoon seeing what Las Vegas had to offer. They went on the Las Vegas Strip and tried to get Hermione to ride High Roller, the roller coaster on the top of the tower. Turning to Harry and Draco, she quickly and succinctly said, "Absolutely not! I'd rather ride a blast ended skrewt while naked."

They walked down the strip taking photos, watching the pirate show, and taking in the giant hotels and casino's. No one could decide on which restaurant they should have supper and Draco broke up the ensuing fight by suggesting they head back to the hotel and order room service. Kate agreed wholeheartedly with Draco's suggestion saying that between Draco and herself, they had more money than the American Wizarding Bank, so they would have a feast fit for the world traveller's that they were. Ordering room service quickly became a game of 'who could order the most outrageous item on the menu and still eat it' between Kate and Draco. Kate won that particular duel when she ordered, and consumed Teriyaki Cockroaches. Draco vowed he could never top that and made a big show about bowing down in her honor. After dinner, they decided to take a midnight swim in the pool and then turned in early for the next day's events.

The next morning they all met after breakfast to take the portkey to the exhibition. Kate had insisted on dressing Hermione in a pair of black pedal pushers, an off the shoulder peasant top in plum and a pair of trainers. She was also 'allowed' a fitted pea coat if it was chilly.

"Seriously Kate, don't you think this is a little dressy for sitting in the stands to watch quidditch?"

"No, of course not," Kate was wearing a pair of jeans and a tank top in mustard with a jean jacket over top. "You look cute! Just because it's not a sweater and jeans does not make it dressy."

"I guess." Hermione hated to admit it, but she really liked the clothes that Kate picked out and was getting use to showing more of her figure.

The group all headed to their portkey and were off to the exhibition. It was being held in the middle of the desert and was a pretty big event; not as big as the Quidditch World Cup, but pretty damn close. There was a tent to get autographs and pictures with the players, a field demonstration on the latest broom, the Firebolt 2. Peddlers selling souvenirs and jerseys were there, along with games to get the most quaffles in the hoops, or to catch the snitch. Later there was to be flying demonstrations by players from both teams of some of their favorite moves.

Viktor was signing autographs when the students arrived. He had arranged for the manager of the team to meet Hermione so he could say hello before they went exploring.

"Herm-own-ninny," he grinned as they entered the tent. He said good bye to the fan he was talking to and came over to give her a hug. "It is so good to see you. Ah Harry Potter, ve meet again! Tell me, are you enjoying your stay here in America?"

"Um, yes, we are. It has been very pleasant, but don't let us keep your fans waiting, we can talk later ok?" Hermione stammered seeing the line of people waiting get impatient and some of them looking at Harry like they knew who he was. Harry was starting to get a little anxious in the crowd. He hadn't thought about how many people would be at the event. Sure, most of them were Americans but there had to be some people from home that would know who he was. "Um, it's good to see you Krum, we have to go get something to eat. See you later?" Harry really wanted to get out of the tent before people noticed who he was.

Hermione, sensing his panic, grabbed a handkerchief from Theo's pocket and transfigured it into a cap. She then shoved it on Harry's head over his scar and disillusioned his glasses. Harry blinked, realizing he could still see, and he grinned widely at Hermione nodding his head in thanks. Hermione smiled back reassuring him.

Krum nodded. "Ve vill go to dinner and out tonight, yes?" he asked, staring at Hermione.

Hermione flushed, "We were thinking of having dinner at the hotel and then the dance club after. You are welcome join us, I'd love to catch up."

"I vas hoping ve would be catching up alone tonight..." Krum looked slightly put out.

Hermione gave him a small smile, "I can't abandon my friends. C'mon! It'll be fun." She gave him a final hug and a wave, walking with her friends out of the tent. Ignoring Kate's waggling eyebrows, Hermione dragged the group to a different tent and they spent the day enjoying the activities. Harry and Draco battled to catch the snitch just like old times, and Sarah and Ginny caused quite the sensation when they both tied for most quaffles through the goal posts.

The team manager found them in the souvenir tent where Ginny was deciding which movable action figures she should buy to send home to Ron and George. He showed the group to their seats for the demonstrations, telling them that any refreshments they'd like were on the house. This tidbit of information caused Hermione to frown, and Kate to start making obnoxious inquiries as to why they might be receiving 'special treatment' from the Bulgarian Quidditch team.

The demonstrations were amazing, even for someone like Hermione who didn't necessarily enjoy the game. Even she could admit the talent required to pull off some of these acrobatic maneuvers. The chasers showed off their speed and agility, using variations of the Porskoff Ploy, where a chaser throws the quaffle to a chaser directly below themselves to get the goal. Krum showed off the Wronski Feint he had used at the World Cup, and the Plumpton Pass where the snitch is hidden up his sleeve to confuse the other team.

After a long afternoon at the exhibition, Hermione left a message with the manager that she and her friends were going back to the hotel and would meet Viktor and his friends for dinner at 6:00 at the hotel restaurant. Then they went to catch a portkey back to their hotel to get ready for the evening.

Kate, tired of the never ending and never progressing flirtation between Hermione and Draco, enlisted the help of Pansy and Ginny to give Hermione a make over. Pansy and Ginny both brought over their own articles of clothing that they thought would look amazing on Hermione and barricaded themselves in Hermione's room, completely taking her prisoner. Harry and Draco having been ready for quite some time, dressed in black slacks, green and deep blue button down shirts respectively, were playing a game of wizard's chess while shouts could be heard from behind the locked door.

Harry couldn't hold it in anymore and laughed heartily, "You would think the girl who traipsed around the country with me looking for pieces of an evil wizard could handle Kate."

Draco smirked. "How would you know? _You_ can barely handle her." With that comment Harry closed his mouth and concentrated on his game.

"You should really stop threatening me with bodily harm Hermione," Kate laughed walking out of the room finally. "Pansy does have a good eye, you look fantastic!" She went over and sat next to her boyfriend, while Pansy and Ginny both came out of the room dressed themselves and chatting about what a great job they did. The door opened and the rest of the group walked in, taking up space throughout the living room area of the suite.

"Hermione, will you come out here? We have to get going," Theo bellowed from his seat next to Draco. Pansy sat on his lap and started playing with his hair.

"Fine, but no one laughs, or I'm changing," Hermione scolded. She walked out in a green backless top that had silver criss crossed strings attached to the front, a silver tulle skirt that hit mid thigh and the highest pair of black heels they could manage to get her to walk in. "I look like Slytherin threw up on me!"

"Hey, you look good in green," Pansy protested. "Much better than red and gold."

"I _hate_ to say it 'Mione," Ginny grinned. "But, Pansy's right, you look amazing in green. It brings out the green flecks in your eyes."

Hermione grumbled, "It brings out the vomit in my stomach is what it does." Looking around the room Hermione got increasingly agitated. "Gin, there are seven guys in this room and not one of them is looking me in the eye. I'm pretty sure Harry doesn't even know what color my eyes _are_."

Sarah started laughing with her, "You might be right 'Mione, but you do look amazing. I love that skirt!"

Harry walked up to his best friend. "Your eyes are hazel with green and yellow flecks and yes, you look great in green, but did you have to do silver? Couldn't you stick to black? You are betraying all your Gryffs in the room you know," he teased.

"Blame Ginny," Hermione giggled, finally calming down after all the positive comments. "It's her skirt."

"I think she looks bloody brilliant," Pansy declared. "Salazar might be turning in his grave, but who gives a fuck these days."

"Wow, it still amazes me," Hermione stage whispered to Harry with a giggle. "I mean after everything we've been through, we're friends with Pansy and Draco."

"I know, who would have thought _that_ would ever happen?" Harry whispered back with a smile.

Draco got up from the sofa brushing his hands down the front of his trousers. "Shall we go then?" As Hermione bent down to retrieve her bag, Draco walked up to Hermione and held out his arm. "You look… mesmerizing."

She looked up startled only to find those eyes had gone slate grey, and were staring at her with such frank appreciation she didn't know what to do with herself. She simply grabbed his arm,

flushing happily. "Err… thanks. Come on, let's getting going," she whispered while following the group out of the room.

They met Krum and a few of his team mates at the hotel restaurant and had an enjoyable dinner. Hermione sat between Harry and Draco with Viktor across from her next to one of his team mates. Harry could feel the tension between Draco and Viktor, as well as the clear indication from Viktor that Hermione was more than just a Pen Pal to him. Harry could see the look of unease on his friend's face and knew that Hermione did not feel the same way as Viktor. She spoke to him, but tried to interact with everyone evenly so as to not give him all her attention.

Once dinner was done they made their way to the nightclub downstairs. There were several stops from adoring Bulgarian fans for autographs and photos, but more surprising than anything were the people who recognized Harry and Hermione and asked them to pose for a photo. Neville had a keen eye for sensing who out of the sea of people had recognized them and might stop them, so he took it upon himself to warn the rest of the Hogwarts students and they worked as a group to distract their other classmates. Finally, they made it down to the club in the relative safety of the dimly lit, slightly cavernous environment. The Bulgarians were able to secure the V.I.P. booths for the night, and the party began.

Hermione tried a strawberry daiquiri and something called a fuzzy navel. Both drinks were fruity and delicious and left her with a comfortable floating sensation; she wouldn't consider herself drunk, but it left her feeling brave, sexy, and just a little bit risky. She looked up and saw Kate flirting _hard_ with one of the men behind the bar. She was totally working the outfit she had on, leaning forward on her elbow, whispering in his ear and giving her target a full view of the amazing cleavage she had to work with. When he nodded and started talking to the other bartenders, Kate threw back her head and laughed maniacally waving the rest of the girls over.

"What have you done, Kate?" Sarah asked, knowing her friend all too well.

"I may, or may not have told them that we're a professional dance troupe and would like to perform a little dance number for them…. On the bar."

"Oh _really_ …" Hermione stated, intrigued. Ginny gaped at Hermione and immediately took her drink and sniffed it.

"How many of these have you _had_?" Ginny questioned her, scowling at Kate who had purchased her drinks.

"Two, thank you very much _Molly_ ," Hermione said imperiously. "I'm perfectly capable of making competent and adult decisions, which includes whether or not I would like to dance on a bar. I think the answer is yes, but how will we know what to do?"

"I don't think it needs to be perfectly choreographed Hermione," Pansy said wryly. "They're looking at five scantily clad women shaking it on a bar, I hardly think they'll complain."

"Point taken."

"Alright then – let's do this!"

"Oh, no you don't," Ginny said, pulling her arm out of Hermione's grasp. "I'm not getting up there and shaking my arse for a bunch of people I don't know! I'll hang with Sarah and Jess back at the table."

And so, the unlikely trio of Hermione, Pansy, and Kate climbed up on the bar and spread themselves out. The DJ dropped a new song a slightly faster remix of 'No Diggity' by Blackstreet, Hermione whooped with excitement.

As if it had been planned the three girls started moving in unison, all hips and sway. Hermione's movements were stiff at first, unsure of herself. She looked over at Pansy who had her eyes closed, and was moving to the thick base beat in a way that had everyone in front of her laser locked on her body. She looked at Kate who had found Harry in the crowd and was giving him a private lap dance even though she was in a room of hundreds of people, and Harry was across the bar. That's when Hermione saw Draco, eyes locked on her. _I could drown in those eyes_ , she found herself thinking again. She kept her eyes trained on him, and began feeling the lyrics of the song "Shorty get down good lord…. I can't get her out of my mind, wow" and her movements became more sultry, more confident, and more sexy. Kate came over to where she was on the bar and grabbed her hand, pulling her into a tight embrace, hips still swaying. Going with it, Hermione moved her hips in slow circles, bending her knees lower and lower until she stuck her hips back and came all the way back up to standing height with her butt squarely against Kate's hips. This was apparently a hit because the crowd broke out in applause and several catcalls. Pansy, never one to be out done, spun Kate towards her and did a variation of the same thing, with way more flash and _bang_.

When the song finished the bar, which had already been alight with raucous cheering and applause, broke out in a fresh wave letting the girls know they'd been plenty entertaining. Hermione, giving Draco one last smile, was completely breathless and eager to get back to the table and have another drink. As she approached the edge of the bar to get down, a set of hands reached out and she grabbed their shoulders laughing at what she'd just done. _Merlin's beard_ , she thought, _I just danced on a bar. In public!_

She looked up to say thank you to the stranger who helped her get down and realized that it was Viktor. "Oh, Viktor! Thank you. That was so much fun and I'm so exhausted! I need another drink…"

"You vere beautiful up there Herm-own-ninny…"

"Thanks! It's easy when you're dancing with those girls to be honest. I can honestly say I never thought I'd do anything like that in my entire li-"

Completely out of left field, Krum kissed her. He'd knocked her slightly off balance when he went for the kiss, so she had no choice but to grab his shoulders to avoid falling on her arse. As soon as she managed to get her feet underneath her she pushed, gently at first, on Krum's chest, and then more insistently when he wouldn't let go.

"Viktor!" she yelled as she finally managed to tear herself out of his grip. "I'm sorry, but that's not why I came to visit you."

"But… I thought… You came! Vhy did you come if not to be rekindling our relationship?"

"Because we're _friends_!" she said, completely exasperated. "We're friends Viktor, and we've never really been more than that. I'm sorry if you thought something different, but that was never my intention. I'm… involved with someone else in some ways, and it wouldn't be fair to either of you if I didn't set the record straight now. I'm terribly sorry…" She had said the last part as she started moving toward the table, but paused to make sure he wasn't angry and that he would follow her back to the table. They looked at each other for a long minute before Viktor obviously came to the decision that their friendship was more important, and he gave her a wan smile, following her back to their table.

She sat down at the table next to Draco, who had his back to the bar, and picked up a beer bottle, draining it dry. It wasn't until the rest of the group returned to the table that Hermione realized how tense Draco was beside her, he almost seemed to vibrate with it. She stole a glance at his face and was shocked by what she saw there.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, putting her hand on his arm. _Did he see Viktor kiss me?_ She thought wildly, examining the situation in her mind. _No, he had his back to the bar when I got here, there's no way he saw that_.

When Draco looked down at her, she realized that she must have been completely, and entirely _wrong._

His eyes looked black in the dimmed lighting and his jaw was so tight she thought his teeth might crack. He glared at her tapping his fingers on the table.

"Granger, if it's all the same to you, I'd prefer to have this conversation in a less public place." he said, glancing around at their table of companions who were looking anxiously between the two and the busy dance club. In the same moment, he was grabbing her hand and pulling her away from the table.

They passed a concerned Theo and Pansy who were still on the dance floor. Pansy reached out for Draco as he passed, but he shook her off, intent on his destination. His only focus was getting them away from the crowd, so they could finally have this _conversation_ in private

"Just where do you think you're going? Take your hands off me!" Hermione yelled to be heard above the pulsing music while struggling to free herself. Draco wasn't paying her any mind. He went down the stairs towards the bathrooms and at the last minute turned under the stairway and backed Hermione up against the wall until they were face to face.

"What's wrong with me? _What's wrong with me?_ " he asked quietly - dangerously quiet.

Hermione wasn't one bit scared, "Yes, what's wrong with you? You're acting like you're mad at me and I haven't done anything wro-"

Draco picked Hermione up, pinned her against the wall with his body, wedged his knee between hers and kissed her. The kiss itself was hard and hot, a branding on her mind as well as her lips. She fought at first, but the kiss was brutal, an onslaught of the senses. He had his hands in her hair and his thumbs were circling just behind her ears causing star bursts of lust to pool in her mind as well as between her thighs. He smelled like sin, something vague and slightly smokey that had her thinking of campfires and firewhiskey.

Draco knew it would be like this between them, somehow he just _knew_ , as he'd known she'd fight him. What he hadn't expected was the slow surrender, that she'd give him more, inch by excruciating inch. When she ground her hips down over his thigh and opened her mouth on a small moan, he took full advantage and moved his tongue against hers. His hands couldn't get enough, as he moved from that ridiculous mane of hair to her face, down her sides and eventually grabbed her ass, molding it with his hands.

Hermione couldn't see, she couldn't breathe. His hands were everywhere and his mouth, gods, his mouth was demanding and soft all at the same time. As quick as it started, it was over. Draco put her on her feet, turned and walked up the steps, pausing halfway to level a searing stare. "Stay away from Krum," he demanded, before walking away.

Draco walked up the stairs, his anger and his lust barely in check. He didn't see the people around him, or hear the music because his heart was beating loud enough to cover it all. _I've got to get out of here_ , he thought, finding one of the six exits he'd marked upon his arrival. Theo, having seen him come up from the bathrooms reached out and grabbed his arm. Draco reacted on instinct, turning and pushing him hard, forcing him to let go of his grip. Draco fled, quickly, quietly, trying to attract as little attention as possible; he'd already created quite a scene by pushing Theo and he needed to be by himself. Away from everybody. Away from _her_.

He managed to get outside and was gulping deep breaths of air, trying to get rid of the tunnel vision, the roaring in his ears, when a hand came down on his shoulder. Draco spun, fists clenched, wand in his non-dominant hand so he could punch first, ask questions later. His fist connected with his assailant's nose, causing a satisfying crunching sound and giving him enough time to get his wand up and trained. " _Confring_ -"

"Draco, _no!_ " Hermione screamed, jumping in front of his attacker. He dropped his wand, paling at the thought that he'd nearly finished that spell and she'd jumped in front of it. He backed up, away from the scene in front of him until his back hit the wall, and then he sat abruptly, his knees no longer up to bearing his weight. He could see Hermione caring for his would-be attacker, though he noticed now it was just a staff member, who'd been coming to give him his coat. " _Fuck_ ," he groaned, starting to shiver uncontrollably. Hermione passed the injured man off to Kate, presumably so she could grease the wheels and avoid this becoming a full scale investigation. _I'm going to Azkaban_ , Draco thought, causing the shivers to increase exponentially. _I've broken the wizarding oath we took with McGonagall, she'll see me thrown in Azkaban if it's the last thing she does_. With that last thought, Draco's mind went impressively blank, and tears started falling silently down his face. He could hear someone vaguely calling his name, but he couldn't focus, he couldn't concentrate. He couldn't hear anything except _I'm going to Azkaban_ , over and over in his mind.

"Draco…DRACO…. _DRACO!"_ Hermione yelled, shaking his shoulders roughly. She was visibly shaken by what was happening with Draco. She knew he'd been angry with her when he left, but something hadn't been right, so she'd followed him. _Godric, if I hadn't gotten here in time_ … She shook herself from that morose thought and focused on Draco. He was extraordinarily pale, and more concerning, he was eerily quiet. Abandoning all sense of boundaries they might have, she knelt down and pulled him to her, cradling his head against her chest and murmuring, "It's alright," over and over again until he heard her. She looked toward the mouth of the alley they'd come out in and she saw the group standing casually by the entrance. The crowd of people passing by on the other side of the group seemed blurry, and she knew that someone must have cast a notice-me-not spell and she was horribly relieved. Harry was having an intense conversation with Theo which she couldn't hear, and Kate and Jess were working to calm a clearly upset Pansy. The rest of the group tried their best to seem unconcerned so as to avoid any unwanted attention.

Suddenly, Neville appeared right in front of her and caught her eye. "Are you alright? We should be undisturbed here, I've cast a series of wards that should leave us unnoticed by muggle and wizard alike. Take your time."

He walked away without another word, or demanding an explanation, and Hermione was forever grateful for the straightforward promise of protection. At some point during Hermione's examination of their surroundings and the time spent making sure that they wouldn't be disturbed, Draco's shivering and tears had stopped. He was less tense, the hyperventilating had slowed down to something approaching a normal rate and he had some color back in his cheeks.

"Draco… What happened here?"

"N.. Nothing. I'm fine, just… just surprised me that's all."

"Draco, cut the shit, you were going to hex that man and all he did was bring you your coat," Hermione demanded. Draco sat up abruptly and made to move away from her, but she held on tight, effectively boxing him in unless he wanted to move her physically.

"Hermione, don't. _Don't_ ," he pleaded, letting her see the panic in his eyes voluntarily for the first time.

"Draco, it's OK. You were triggered, it could have happened to any one of us."

He scoffed, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "Oh yeah, too right. Saint Potter hexing a civilian in public…"

"He nearly killed Tom at the Leaky just after the war. Tom came up behind him to offer his congratulations and startled him." Hermione shrugged, like the information she'd offered was of no consequence. It certainly took Draco up short though, thinking that perhaps he wasn't the only one who suffered as badly as he did. Some part of him thought that it was some sort of cowardice on his part.

"I just… I don't know why it happens," he admitted quietly. "It doesn't even make sense, and I can't predict it. How am I ever supposed to be _normal_ if I can't avoid completely losing my mind in public?" The look on his face was pure anguish, and it broke her heart.

"Is it as bad as it was just after the war? Or is it better, less frequent?"

"It's… better, I guess. It happens less often, and it's like some part of me can sense that it's coming and so I leave. _I tried to leave_ ," he said, his eyes pleading with her to see that he hadn't meant any of it.

"Draco, stop. I know you didn't mean to hurt that man, that's not who you are. You were having a panic attack and someone came up behind you and startled you. Had that happened during the war, the standard policy was to hex first and ask questions later. No one could blame you for the response you had here. Plus, it looks like Kate has smoothed things over. What is it you're always telling me? Money fixes everything," she chuckled, trying to raise his spirits.

"It can't keep me out of Azkaban, and that was my last strike."

Hermione looked at Draco completely aghast. "Do you honestly think they'd send you to Azkaban for that?"

"We took an _oath_ , Hermione. Keep our noses out of trouble, keep ourselves in line. The message was clear that this was my last chance and I blew it. McGonagall will have me in a cell faster than you can say Quidditch."

"If you think _any_ of us would let that happen, you're delusional," she said, voice ice cold.

Startled by her vehemence, he looked up and into her eyes. "Why? Why would _any_ of you protect me? I deserve to be in there Hermione, I deserve to be put away for the part I had in that war. I helped him, even if I didn't want to. He got more of what he wanted because of me and my family. I've been stupid to think I'd escape unscathed."

" _Unscathed?_ " she whispered, appalled that he'd use it to describe his current state. She put her hands on either side of Draco's face and forced him to look at her. "You are _not_ 'unscathed' Draco, prison cell or not. That war has had its consequences for everyone that fought in it, and you do _not_ deserve to go to prison for your role. Why can't you believe that none of us hate you? Why can't you believe that _I_ don't hate you?"

When he let his eyes drop as his shoulders slumped, Hermione was so frustrated. She pushed his shoulders against the wall, tilted his chin upwards, and kissed him squarely on the mouth.

Draco's eyes popped open as her lips made contact with his. He couldn't believe this was happening. Not one to look a gift hippogriff in the mouth, he cupped her face and poured himself into the kiss.

Hermione felt his surprise, and then she felt him melt, inch by inch into the kiss. Forgetting that they were in an alley, Hermione moved until she was straddling him, deepening the kiss, intensifying the angles, pulling him closer.

Draco thought he might be drowning in her, but couldn't bring himself to care. He'd never felt this way with any other person he'd been with. She was pure emotion, no guile, no games, just… her. She'd managed to comfort him, to soothe his aching soul, with just a kiss. Merlin help him when he got her underneath him, when he got her in bed. Because he _would_ have her, it was just a matter of time. No sooner had he thought the words than Hermione broke the kiss, pressing her forehead to his and breathing heavily.

"I'm not sure what this is, but I'm certain it shouldn't be explored in an alley. Are you ok to go back in? To the hotel I mean, I'm done clubbing for the evening."

Draco swallowed heavily and nodded once, not trusting himself to speak quite yet. As had happened earlier that night, Hermione stood first and offered him her hand to help him stand. He took it, only this time he didn't let it go. He laced his hand with hers, and they proceeded back toward their friends. Neville glanced at Draco, searching his face for further signs of trauma when Draco held out his hand. They shook, and Neville gave him a nod before turning to tuck Jess under his arm, one of his hands in the back pocket of her jean skirt. Kate grinned at Hermione, while Pansy hugged Draco.

Not one person asked what happened, not one person treated them differently, not one person noticed the eyes that saw and heard _everything._


	14. New Beginnings

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N: This is for you, readers and reviewers! We love all of our followers, and hope you enjoy this SUPER lemony goodness!**

* * *

 **~Chapter 14 - New Beginnings~**

"Everything okay?" Pansy asked her best friend. Draco nodded at her and gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm okay, I think I just need to lie down. It's been an eventful night, and I just need to think clearly."

"Don't worry Pans," Hermione said to her friend, because when all's said and done, Pansy Parkinson had become a very good friend. "Draco will be fine. I'm going to go say goodnight to everyone. I'm done for this evening."

Pansy hesitated for just a second and then gave Hermione a hug. "Take care of my friend Granger," she whispered. "Just, Say Goodnight and Go!" she said more loudly for all to hear.

Hermione laughed and hugged the raven haired girl back. "I can handle Draco Malfoy, I'm not scared of the spoiled Slytherin Prince."

Neville stood there, in a bit of a shock as the Slytherin hugged the Gryffindor. "OK, there must be something in the water tonight. This is not a scene I ever thought I would see! Pansy is hugging Hermione and neither is pulling hair, or drawing wands."

Theo walked up and put an arm on Neville's shoulder. "Ooooh, maybe they will start… shhh… maybe we'll get a show. Think they'll kiss? That would be hot. How much did they have to drink?" Everyone looked over at Theo with an incredulous look. "What? You both danced on a bar for Merlin's sake. Plenty of witches and wizards saw, so why couldn't there be a kiss? Don't look at me like that Granger, you know I think this year is just full of new and interesting fun!"

"Pans," Draco pulled Hermione out of the hug and held onto her hand. "Get Theo upstairs, I think he's hit his limit."

"Neville," Theo punched his friend in the stomach. Neville winced more out of surprise than actual pain. "They're holding hands! Now the world is going to end. Slytherin and Gryffindor united by the Prince and Princess, the founders are turning in their graves."

"Theo, you git," Hermione laughed. "Slytherin and Gryffindor were the best of friends in their time."

"How do you know?"

"She probably read it," Pansy grinned. "I bet you a thousand galleons it was in _Hogwarts, A History._ "

Hermione held her chin up high, but turned a brilliant shade of magenta and her friends started guffawing. " _Anyway_ ," she interrupted the hilarity with as much dignity as she could muster. "They were friends. They had a difference in opinion, yes, but they were still friends. That's all I was saying. I'm going to bed, you guys continue to laugh at me if you wish." She walked away to say goodnight to Harry and everyone else. Draco followed in her wake and they walked back into the hotel lobby together.

"About fucking time," Kate murmured. She had been unusually quiet during the exchange between friends. "I thought they would never figure it out."

* * *

Draco and Hermione made their way back to the room. Through the opulent hotel lobby, their steps started out slow, but became more and more urgent the closer they came to the lifts.

Once the lift doors shut, Draco used his body to push Hermione against the wall and brought his lips down to hers again. Gently at first, then with more urgent need behind it. Hermione matched the kiss with the same enthusiasm, bringing her arms around his neck, and playing with his hair at the nape. Having parted her lips slightly, Draco took advantage sweeping his tongue into her mouth, tasting strawberries that lingered from whatever cocktail she'd had last. It just made him want her more. The scrap of fabric disguised as a top was very helpful. He could feel her skin beneath his hands as they roamed over her body, mapping every angle, every curve and sending shivers down her spine. She moaned into his mouth and pushed herself flush against him. Feeling his erection against her hip, she tentatively brought one hand down and stroked him gently. Draco hissed as soon as she made contact, his erection straining against the fabric of his trousers and she pulled her hand away, almost as if she'd been burned. Still kissing her, Draco grabbed her hand and put it back where it had been, now completely prepared for the delicious friction her cautious explorations had evoked. Draco was losing his mind. Her caresses were maddening making him want to pull her to the floor and take her right then and there, but a lift was not his ideal locale for their first time. Noting her earlier hesitancy, Draco also suspected that sex wasn't something Hermione took lightly, and subsequently didn't have much experience with. _I need to do this right_ , he thought, vowing that their first night together would not be on his list of monumental cock ups.

The elevator stopped on their floor with a jerk and Draco pulled away from her, his mind focused on one thing - her, beneath him, writhing in ecstasy. In a daze, he grabbed her hand and led her to the door to their suite, rifling through his pants pocket for the hotel key, and growling in frustration when it wouldn't come out of his pocket. With a brief "HA!", he pulled it from his pocket with a flourish, jammed it into the slot, and waited for the light to turn green before pulling it open. He walked her straight into the room, silencing and locking the door. _No interruptions,_ he thought to himself.

Turning back to Hermione, he took in her appearance; the backless shirt, the skirt that seemed at once fitted and beguiling, both designed to bring a grown man to his knees. Trying for nonchalance he asked, "Where were we?"

Hermione bit her bottom lip and looked at him from underneath her lashes, evidently trying to come to a decision. _I can be patient_ , he thought, willing to wait until she was ready, to get back to ravishing her. She closed the gap between the two of them, taking three long, quick strides and said, "Right about here." He brought his head down so she could deliver yet another searing kiss, drugging him with her taste and awing him with her trust. Draco slowly brought his hands down her sides to her waist, secretly glad to hear her moan and shiver at his touch. He reached around her back and picked her up, carrying her close to him, refusing to break their kiss. He walked slowly back to the bed, setting her down while crawling up her length like a panther stalking its prey.

Hermione broke their kiss, only long enough to watch his eyes as he travelled up the bed to meet her. She was done with the slow dance she and Draco were engaged in. Her body felt like it was on fire from the very first kiss and she was aching for more. She opened her mouth to Draco's prodding tongue, loving how he deepened their kiss once more. She couldn't stop herself from feeling him, caressing his chest, and tracing the muscles hiding under his shirt. Part of her couldn't believe that this was real. They'd been circling each other almost since day one, neither of them giving a direct indication of their feelings, until Draco had kissed her at the bar. She was still slightly afraid that things would go back to how they were; the Slytherin Prince who teased, made fun of and hated the swotty, bookish Princess of Gryffindor. _Don't be ridiculous,_ she argued with herself. _It's been months and you know he's not the same person_. _Stop analyzing everything to death and enjoy it for Merlin's sake!_ With that last thought she moaned and pushed her hips against him.

Draco growled, thanking Salazar that Hermione had finally stopped overthinking things. He had seen the moment when she'd decided to enjoy the moment; he thought the small smile on her face would be one of his favorite memories for some time to come. Hermione caressed his straining erection, and he hissed again, feeling very confined within his trousers.

"Hermione," he panted, moving his mouth down her jaw. "Be careful moving around like that..."

Hermione shifted her neck a little to give him better access and asked innocently, "Moving like what?" As she ground her hips up against him, causing him to swear loudly.

"You know damn well what you're doing woman, it's very distracting." He was busy caressing her stomach, when he found a string on her blouse and pulled, not realizing that the string was what was holding her top on her body. Suddenly her top was loose. "Is this ok?" he asked, pausing to be sure. She nodded her consent, and Draco lifted his head away from her neck, smirking. "Did I tell you I really love this top? It's very… convenient."

Hermione giggled as she pulled at it, getting slightly tangled in the length of string. Draco started laughing and helped her get it over her head and out of her hair, throwing it on the floor before noticing she was not wearing a bra. Her breasts were a perfect milky color with a lovely pink tinge at the peaks. She laid back down, her hair flared out like a halo around her head. Draco couldn't help but stare, drinking in the sight of her laid out before him, completely and splendidly bare and vulnerable.

Hermione found herself growing self-conscious under Draco's brutal gaze, and moved her hands up to surreptitiously cover her breasts.

"Stop," he said grabbing her hands and moving them down by her sides. "You are beautiful."

She met his eyes and saw nothing but frank honesty and admiration there as he started stroking her sternum with his thumb. "If you would have told me a year ago, I would be here, in this room with the beautiful Hermione Granger, I'd have told you, you were mad."

Hermione smiled at the blonde. "Draco, last year I was in a tent with two boys and a locket with the soul of a madman inside of it. I didn't think I would live to see this year at all, let alone end up in this room with you," she chuckled slightly. "Seriously though, after all the years of animosity between us and between you, Harry and Ron, this was never on my mind as a possibility. I'm glad it is now. I just wish, this was the Draco Malfoy I met first year, this kind and caring man who is here with me now," she said as she started unbuttoning his shirt. At the quirk of his eyebrow she shrugged. "It's only fair we're both topless," she said, causing him to chuckle.

Draco leaned back down, kissing her softly on the mouth, as he moved to straddle her body. As much as he loathed to move away from her mouth, he couldn't let the rest of her be neglected. He trailed kisses down her body, stopping at her breasts, bringing one into his hot mouth, sucking on the nipple, releasing it and then blowing on it. The effect was instantaneous and he took her now hardened nipple back into his mouth while massaging the other between his slender fingers.

Hermione was groaning in pleasure, playing with his hair as he feasted on her, before he ventured further south. Kissing her stomach, he hooked his fingers along the band of her skirt and pulled it down her hips, revealing an emerald green thong. Once again, Draco sat up a bit, looked at Hermione and smirked. "Did you do this for me?"

She blushed, "No! Pansy picked them out. Apparently she likes to match her knickers to her outfits and somehow she got me into them."

"Remind me to thank her. I think it's incredibly sexy that you matched your knickers to your top," he said reverently.

Hermione sat up and put her hands on his face, giving him another kiss. "Enough talking about my knickers."

Draco grinned. "You're right. Let's not waste anymore time with knickers," he said, pulling them off in one quick, fluid motion. He guided her back down on her back, stood up and took off his trousers and boxers. He stood there for a second giving Hermione a chance to get used to seeing him naked. It was only when he met her eyes that he could say that she was actually admiring him.

He was tall and had a lean seeker's body. Hermione could see why the girls went on about him; his muscles, while not bulging were well defined and Hermione almost drooled at the V of his lower abs leading to a rather impressive length. Draco caught her eyes roaming his body with lust pooled in them. He knelt back down and positioned himself between her legs and began to kiss between her thighs. Hermione started squirming, knowing what was going to happen, hissing slightly as Draco brought his hot mouth to her mound.

"Mmm… ohhh… yessss… there, right there... _please_!" A soft cry filled the softly lit room. Her hand reached out, instincts crying out for more, pulling at Draco's hair between her legs. She pushed him deeper as her hips lifted, her need for him urging him further into her body.

She felt his fingers leaving indents into her hips as he took her encouragement with even more vigor. Licking, sucking, biting, she tasted like a sweetness he just couldn't place and he couldn't get enough. He wanted to consume her in every way possible. Her soft thighs surrounding his face, he sucked on her pulsating clit as she moaned even louder. Swirling his tongue and licking between her hot slippery folds, he was getting lost in her, the not so soft noises she was making spurring him on, wanting to take her to places she'd never been before, let alone dreamed of. The more she moaned and grinded into his mouth, the harder his body reacted. He moved one hand off her hip and slid a finger into her body making her hiss and buck once more as he invaded her most private space.

"Oh Gods… more… please…" she chanted, moving her body in a rhythmic motion in time with his hand and his tongue. "So… close… don't fucking… _stop_ ," she begged him, biting her lip in concentration on the storm brewing inside her. She could feel it building in the pit of her stomach, the ache in her pelvic bone, the tension was so great she thought she might shatter into a thousand tiny pieces. Draco slowed, giving her clit one final suck before moving away denying her the release she was clearly craving with every ounce of her being.

Hermione whimpered in distress at the loss of contact. Draco was a master with his tongue, and she wanted it back between her legs so she could finish what he started. She wanted to ride out the orgasm that was still there, blissfully painful, waiting for him to tip her over the edge. He moved up her naked body, kissing his way up to her mouth where he delved in once again, getting drunk on her desire, appreciating her seeming subconscious search for the friction he had so cleverly taken away at the perfect moment.

Hermione was a bundle of burning embers every time his lips met her body. She reached down and began to stroke his length again, this time with no restrictions. Remembering broomball, she decided this was a good time to use her spell for its true purpose, " _Levigatus,"_ she whispered into his ear and her hands began to move against his skin with a silky ease.

Draco groaned with pleasure, her hands feeling so soft against him and now gliding with an easy tug. "This is such a better use of that spell."

Hermione chuckled darkly as she nibbled on his ear, simultaneous to her ministrations below.

"Yes, I know," she whispered, enjoying tormenting him as he had done to her, feeling his hips grinding against her hand, searching and yearning for more.

"Hermione," he warned in a strangled tone. "If you keep this up I won't last much longer."

Bringing her legs high on his hips, she positioned his shaft at the entrance to her wet core and urged him forward.

"Are you sure?" His stormy grey eyes stared into hers, looking for confirmation. "Hermione, we can slow down if you-"

She stopped him with a searing kiss, breaking it to say, "Shhhhh… I want this. I want _you_." She rocked her hips forward and pulled him to her. Despite her urgency, Draco took his time, teasing her by barely entering her, using his hands to stir her desire again, bringing her close to the peak and then backing away again until she thought she might lose her mind. Finally, unable to stay away for a moment longer, Draco sheathed himself inch, by excruciating inch, hands wound underneath her and holding her shoulders, so he could pull her to meet each and every thrust.

"Oh Merlin, Hermione… you feel… amazing," he panted, feeling his spine tingle as she moved beneath him. Needing more contact, more flesh, more _her_ , Draco brought her up pulling her flush against him. Sweat glistening off of both of them, he leaned her back slowly, placing kisses on her chest, her collar bones and finally nippling lightly against her nipple, tasting the saltiness of their efforts.

He continued to grind her against him, reaching between their sticky bodies for the tiny bundle of nerves that was rubbing ever so slightly against his cock, massaging it in time to each thrust.

Hermione could do nothing but focus on the friction, and the coiling ball of desire building at her center. Her hands gripped his back, her nails leaving their mark, as she urged him on, begging for the release he'd denied her so many times already. She gasped as he quickened his pace, with his hips as well as his fingers; the perfect combination of sensation to have her flying apart at the seams.

" _Draco_ …" she whispered, the tension that had been building so close to the breaking point, she didn't know whether she was begging him to stop, or continue.

Draco fisted his hands in her hair, feeling her body starting to quake around him and pulled her head up to his. "Open your eyes, Hermione," he demanded, his nose a mere inch from hers. When she started shaking her head, too focused on her inner chaos to obey, he grabbed her chin and said it again. "Hermione, _open your eyes!_ I want to see it when you come for me, I want to see you lose control..." She did open her eyes then, and the emotion he saw there stole his soul, nearly ripping his own release from the steely grasp he was maintaining, desperate to see her fall over the cliff he'd built for her, rock, by rock of his hips.

She hadn't meant to open her eyes, as concentrated she was on the storm building within her, but she just couldn't deny the demanding tone of his voice. His last words, begging to see her eyes when she came, put her over the edge and wave after wave of sheer bliss flooded her body, causing her to convulse, her legs to shake.

Draco had never seen anything sexier than Hermione Granger releasing herself against him. The look of pure delight and satisfaction was enough to have him losing his own control. He began to thrust deep into her core, frenzied, chasing his own release. Just as he thought to prolong the exquisite agony, she thrust up against him while dragging his head down, placing a kiss on his neck, sucking on the pulse point that resided there. The sweetness of the gesture rocked him, in more ways than one and he felt his balls tightening in response. One, two, three long thrusts and his own release came to meet him like a sledgehammer meeting concrete.

Completely spent, he'd collapsed on top of her, with little to no regard for anything let alone how heavy he might be. He moved slightly, to avoid crushing her body, but she clung to him, tilting her head up for a kiss with a lazy grin on her face. Never one to deny a woman something she so clearly desired, he bent his head and kissed her gently.

"Hermione," he murmured. "That was incredible." Snuggling into his side, she hummed in agreement, stretching slightly as she took inventory of her pleasantly sore, and incredibly well _used_ muscles. Thinking about what they'd just done, with _whom_ , she couldn't help but giggle.

"What's so funny?" he asked, smiling despite himself; her humor and genial mood completely contagious. While she gathered her thoughts, he reached over and grabbed his wand, performing a quick, " _scourigify!_ " on both of them. Her own breathing had finally slowed to match his own and her honey colored eyes locked on his grey. She gave him another small, satisfied giggle and he grinned back. "Give it up witch, what is so hysterical?"

"Nothing," she said, trying to contain herself. "It's just… we just… I mean we just… and you are _you_ …and I'm _me_..."

She stumbled awkwardly, trying to figure out the right words. Draco started to look worried, like she may have regrets and she reached out, grabbing his arm to push him back in the bed so she could snuggle up as she had been before.

Soothed by their return to intimacy, Draco put his arm around her and stroked her back absently. "I think I know what you mean. It's odd, right?"

She nodded, her face shy with what could have been guilt if the smile she wore didn't speak of a woman completely content in her choices. "I mean, if I could have told my younger self that I, Hermione Granger, would be shagging Draco bloody Malfoy…"

"I know," he admitted. "You don't seem the type to sleep with anyone..."

" _Thanks,_ " she said flatly sitting up on her elbows and moving away from him. "If I'm not the _type_ to sleep with someone, what are you even doing here? Are you telling me I'm not... attractive enough to have an intimate relationship?"

"Come back here!" he demanded, putting his hands on her stiff shoulders, massaging them until the tension there decreased and he felt he was able to guide her back down to lie beside him without losing any vital parts of his anatomy. "You know that's not what I meant. Obviously I think you are very attractive." He paused, gesturing at the slowly hardening length at his waist. The Hermione Granger that stood up for herself, was evidently even more sexy than the one who lost control. "And we _are_ having an intimate relationship. I meant that you seem very sure of what you want, and given our history, I just never thought it would be me."

Mollified by his explanation, and the clear evidence between his thighs that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him, she began to relax.

"I never thought it would be you either. Our history is not for the faint of heart," she said glancing up at him and giving him a smirk.

"Good thing we have experience navigating situations like that eh? Hopefully you won't need to kill me at the end of it…" he said with a chuckle, hoping that making light of that particular situation wasn't in poor enough taste to have her pulling away.

Quite the contrary, she rolled and straddled him, lightening fast. Pinning his hands at his sides with her knees, she put a hand in between them and guided his length once more, sliding it back and forth against herself. She watched him enjoying his eyes roll back in his head as he groaned, freeing his arms and grasping her hips with a hiss.

"No promises…" she murmured, seating herself fully on his now fully erect member.

"I think you may just kill me _now_ witch," he said, kissing her deeply. "Shouldn't we sleep?"

"You can sleep when you're dead…" she murmured, quivering with laughter as he rolled her underneath him, ready to show her just how _alive_ he could be.

* * *

 **A/N: Have you checked out 'Say Goodnight and Go'? Its a great WIP by Claireabellalou, and we recommend it to you! ~jks**


	15. Extra Extra

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

* * *

 **~Chapter 15 - Extra Extra~**

The next week they went back to their normal routines. It was sort of nice when they thought about it, and the Hogwarts students thought about it a lot, that they'd had weeks upon weeks of _normal_. Just when everyone was starting to get comfortable, Hermione was sitting down with Harry, Ginny, and Draco at breakfast when the post came in and dropped a letter in front of Hermione from George.

"That's odd," Ginny said looked confused. "Why is George sending you a letter? Did he ask you to look for premises as well?"

"I doubt it, Gin," she replied with a wry smile, clearly thinking of every time she'd gotten both Fred and George in trouble for testing their wards on unsuspecting first years. "I wonder what's going on..." Hermione puzzled while opening her letter. Enclosed was a short letter from George and a newspaper clipping.

Draco looked over at Hermione as she read her post and watched as her face drained of color only to turn the most magnificent shade of magenta he'd ever seen on a person. He saw the matching flash of anger in her eyes, one that he hadn't seen since she hit him in third year, and knew that this letter did not bring good news from home.

"What is it Hermione?" Draco whispered. She grabbed his hand and motioned for Harry and Ginny to follow as they left the cafeteria and walked outside to the grassy area where the boys played broomball. Neville caught the severe look on Hermione's face and wordlessly followed, motioning to their friends to stay put while kissing Jess on the cheek and reassuring her that they were OK.

"Hermione what is it?" Ginny demanded, clearly worried.

"That stupid cow! I should have squashed her when I had the chance…" Hermione started ranting as she paced back and forth under the tree. Draco had to admit, he loved the look of pissed off Granger; she looked damn near perfect as she paced in her short skirt, her expression fierce and her body language looking like she could slay a dragon. "I should have known better than to release her. I thought she had learned her lesson, but I guess I'll have to get a hold of her buggy face and gouge her eyes out myself!"

"Hermione, what are you on about?" Harry asked again, raising his voice and grabbing her by her shoulders to stop the incessant pacing. Neville through up a silencing charm and another ward that Draco was unfamiliar with and vowed to ask him about it later. She thrusted the letter from George to her friends and the four of them read it together.

 _My Dearest Hermione,_

 _How is everything, love? Are you having a good time, chumming around with any well known seekers abroad? Gallivanting across the Americas with 'no respect for your reputation'? The reason I ask is there was a funny little piece in the paper this morning about a quidditch exhibition stateside last week and oddly enough, there was a picture of a very made up girl snogging not one, but two seekers! Someone is getting around now that they are away from Hogwarts, huh? For a girl who doesn't like quidditch you sure do have a way with the players. First a beater and now two seekers? Better pace yourself 'Mione, you'll run out of players soon. Only joking, but I did enclose the article in question. Oh and don't worry about little old me, I'll get over being replaced by the blubbering Bulgarian and the white haired pretty boy. Really Mione? Malfoy? What is going on over there?_

 _Lots of Love,_

 _George_

 _P.S. Nice outfit, I always knew you had it in you. Too bad our time passed, how come you never dressed like that for me? I'm a bit offended…_

"White haired pretty boy?" Draco smirked.

"Really Draco, that is what you focus on?" Hermione groaned. He smirked at her, rubbing her shoulders and she couldn't help but giggle, feeling the anger ebb slightly just because he was near.

"Where is the article 'Mione?" Harry asked.

"Right here, I haven't read it yet. I was afraid of blowing up at the table."

 **Golden Girl in a** _ **New**_ **Golden Trio?**

 **By Rita Skeeter**

 _Looks like our Golden Girl is at it again! Hermione Granger, famous for her part in the devastating love triangle from the TriWizard tournament, as well a her role in the Golden Trio's defeat of You-Know-Who has found herself once again locked between two lovers. Is she a helplessly pursued victim, or the tormenting temptress? Only time will tell. Currently attending school in the United States of America with the illustrious Golden Boy himself, Harry Potter, Miss. Granger was seen with her classmates at a quidditch exhibition that took place in Las Vegas, Nevada. One might remember that during the aforementioned TriWizard Tournament, she had been linked to The Golden Boy himself as well as Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum, who happened to be playing in the exhibition in Las Vegas. Coincidence? I think not_.

 _The group of students who attended the exhibition from an undisclosed school stateside included five other students from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They spent the day participating in quidditch activities at the exhibition, but that night they all spent in the company of the Bulgarian heart throb, as well as the entire Bulgarian Quidditch team. This reporter was surprised to see Miss Granger shamelessly go after said seeker and act unbecoming of a lady by engaging in nothing other than lewd, sensual and frankly wanton dancing, on the bar no less, with some classmates. Luring Mr. Krum into a kiss with a seductive dance was not enough for Ms. Granger apparently as this reporter also witnessed yet another kiss with an unknown blonde man later that same evening. "Poor Krum was gutted when he saw her snogging that other bloke," a source close to Mr. Krum reported. "He really thought she'd come to the exhibition for him - he even comp'd their suites and everything!". It appears notoriety has gone to Miss Granger's head. Is she after Krum for his money, or just using him to get ahead now that her own fame is waning? Who is this new love interest? What does her former lover, Harry Potter have to say about it all? We may never know._

The photo was of her kissing Krum, and then another photo of her and the back of a platinum blonde head walking away holding hands.

"Fucking cow," Hermione growled.

"Skeeter was there? I never saw her." Harry's face went pale.

"I should have kept that beetle in the jar!"

"Beetle?" Ginny was confused.

"Rita Skeeter is an unregistered animagus, the filthy little…." She broke off as Draco put his hand on her shoulder in a calming gesture. Taking a deep breath, she tried to contain her use of expletives and explain. "She followed Harry around during the TriWizard Tournament fourth year," Hermione finished. Then with a knowing look at Draco, she added, "That's how she kept finding out random details when she never appeared to _be_ anywhere and then put them in those ridiculously twisted stories about him. Of course, she also got several 'quotes' from a few choice Slytherins."

Draco coughed and looked properly ashamed, albeit with a grin. "Oh, so you figured that out, did you? To be fair, I was a shit and at the time it was pretty damn funny, but I never told her anything about you Hermione, just Potter and Hagrid."

"Yes, I know that Draco. Funnily enough, I'm pretty sure it was Pansy who gave Rita quotes on me. Man, things were a bit easier when we all hated each other," Hermione chuckled. "Oh Merlin, Ginny! What are your parents going to say? I'm surprised I haven't gotten a howler!"

"Why would the Weasley's send you a Howler for snogging two guys? You aren't with any of their boys," Draco asked confused.

"My mum thinks of Hermione like a daughter, especially since her parents aren't in the picture anymore. After all the press over the summer, she's been on all of us to stay in a good light so as to 'not tarnish our reputations'," Ginny explained, with air quotes. "That's likely who George was quoting in his letter - look there," she pointed. "He put quotations around 'no respect for your reputation'." Hermione groaned heavily, already anticipating the wrath of the Weasley matriarch.

"So, no doubt about it, kissing a former death eater is bad for your reputation," Draco said grimly. Hermione narrowed her eyes at Draco knowing where his mind was going. She didn't know how, but she vowed that she would rid him of this notion he had that she was too good for him. Taking his hand, she looked him in the eye and said, "No, kissing two guys in the same evening is bad for my reputation. 'Death Eater' has nothing to do with it, and you say former death eater like I was kissing your father, or something."

"Ew, 'Mione, don't be gross," Harry gagged.

Hermione laughed at the looks of disgust on all three faces, having clearly accomplished her objective now that Draco wasn't glaring at the floor with self contempt.

"What? I just meant someone who truly wants me dead. I only said Lucius because well, look at him, he's going to look like his father one day," she said gesturing to Draco with a lascivious grin. I wouldn't want to say something like kissing Goyle's father, I mean c'mon..."

"Okay, you're truly grossing me out now, I think I'm going to be sick. Did you say Goyle?"

"Oh shut up Harry! You know as well as I do Draco was never a true death eater. If he were we wouldn't have had se-"

"SHUT UP HERMIONE!" Harry yelled, everyone full on sniggering at Harry's obvious distress.

"My point is Draco, no, I'm not worried about what people think about me being with a 'former Death Eater'. I know the truth about what went down then; the important people _know who you are_. Even Harry knows the truth and he wouldn't let you near me if he thought you were still dangerous, or thought like your father. I know how much you've changed in the last eight months. You don't have to worry about me getting scared. I've already told you, I don't scare easily."

"Okay," Harry shook his head. "It's time for class, let's go before I lose my breakfast."

The three friends continued to laugh at Harry's reaction and when they caught up with their classmates. Hermione put the article behind her for now, but made up her mind to revisit it later.

* * *

Two weeks had past and the Hogwarts students were getting ready to spend their very first Thanksgiving at Kate's home. Kate and Sarah had some very big plans for the group, but Kate had even bigger plans for Hermione and Draco.

Finding the two of them in the common area with Harry after dinner, Kate went and sat down on Hermione's lap, putting her arms around her neck and kissing her on the cheek.

Hermione looked up at her friend and Kate just grinned saying, "What's up, buttercup?"

"Kate, why are you sitting on me?"

"Because you're comfy?"

"Well you're not! Get your bony ass off me!"

The boys laughed. Kate sighed and she slid down next to Hermione bumping her shoulder. Hermione let out an exasperated sigh and put down what she was working on. She turned, looked at Kate and finally laughed. "What are you, six? What is going on?"

"Well, I have an idea that I need to talk to you about. Well, you and these two. Alone. I'm not sure how you'll react and I want it to be a good thing, a therapeutic and cathartic thing, but I don't know you as well as Harry does, and I want to…"

"Kate!" Hermione interrupted her friend's rambling. "What is it you want to talk about?"

"Let's go into your room and talk."

Hermione led the way to her room and opened the door. "Oh Merlin! Don't you guys ever remember a locking charm? For cripes sake, you would think between the three of you someone would remember _some_ magic and throw up a bloody spell," she yelled into her room at a half naked trio of bodies before slamming it shut and locking it.

"Are they...?" Harry asked, not sure he really wanted to know the answer.

"If they aren't, they are certainly doing an excellent impression..." Hermione laughed. "I've seen Jake's butt at least twice now. Honesty, they are absolute rubbish at a locking charm."

"One can only hope they're better at contraception charms…" Kate muttered, with a slight frown of concern. At this, Harry went positively white and looked like he might go in there and have a word with Jake, naked, or not.

"I think you should sleep in my room tonight, I'm not sure I like that you're sneaking glances at Jake's ass," Draco snickered, walking in front of Potter and encouraging him to keep walking.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, because I seem like the type to ogle my best friend's boyfriend's ass."

"I don't have a boyfriend 'Mione," Harry teased.

"You're one of _my_ best friends," Kate reasoned with mischief in her eyes. "Have you been ogling Harry's ass?"

"What?! Eww!" Hermione shuddered with revulsion at the thought as they walked into Kate's room.

Kate laughed. "What? Harry has a nice ass. I've looked at Draco's; it's at least just as nice, at least from what I can tell in clothes."

"Kate, stop there," Harry moaned. "I don't need to know that you like Malfoy's butt. There are just some things a bloke doesn't need to know."

"What, Potter?" Draco snickered, enjoying Harry's discomfort. "Bothered that your girlfriend has checked me out and your best friend, and my girlfriend, hasn't checked _you_ out?"

"Technically, I lived with both Harry and Ron in a tent for about nine months," Hermione countered, knowing where this was going. "I've seen them both in various states of undress as well as… well various states of teenage male hormones, which by the way, is very scarring. I don't recommend life on the run with horny teenage boys."

"Another visual of Potter and the Weasel I never needed in my life," Draco sighed glancing heavenward. At the thought of his girlfriend alone with two guys, no matter how platonic their relationship, he scowled.

"Who is this Weasel and tell me, how undressed have you seen him?" Kate asked curiously.

"Another one of Ginny's brothers and one of my oldest friends, but no, I have not seen anything I wouldn't see if he were wearing swim trunks," she said, trying to remove the furrow in Draco's brow. "There has never been anything between me and Ron."

"Nothing?" Harry asked, eyebrows raised practically into his hairline. Blushing slightly, Hermione amended her statement. "Alright, I fancied him for a while, but once he was occupied with Lavender, I lost my taste for him. We did share one kiss earlier this year but that was all."

She sat next to Draco putting her legs on him and her arms around his neck, brought her lips to his ear and whispered, "I only want to see _your_ butt now Draco, no one else but you."

He turned towards Hermione and smirked, whispering back, "Oh really? Want to see it now?"

"Not now you two," Kate cried. "Geez, it's only been a couple of weeks! You are almost as bad as the trio in there."

"Not true," Hermione said as she tried to ignore Draco making circles on her back. "We know how to lock doors and the importance of a good silencing charm..." As she trailed off, the unmistakable sounds of intense love making began making themselves known, Harry wincing at a particularly vigorous moan that Hermione though might be Ginny's. She shot up quickly, ran to the door, and shot a well aimed silencing charm at the dorm room across the hall.

The three occupants of Kate's room roared with laughter as Hermione returned to her seat on Ginny's bed.

"Okay Kate, what is this about?"

Kate got up, closed the door, put up her own silencing and locking charms and sat back down. Harry looked at his girlfriend a bit shocked. "Um, Kate? Why do we need the door locked?"

Kate laughed, clearly reading the anxiety on Harry's features as he looked back and forth between his old school friends. "Don't worry Harry we aren't having a couple swap, or anything. Unless… no?" She howled at the looks of absolute horror on everyone's face - these guys were just too easy! "Damn!" she said, with mock disappointment. "Anyway, the reason is we will be going to my house next week and I wanted to bring up a side trip for the four of us as a way of healing some of your, uh, unresolved issues with your past." Kate waved vaguely at Hermione's arm in a knowing fashion.

Draco, understanding what she meant, was intrigued by the proposition. "What did you have in mind? It won't go away; the scars we have are cursed. Well mine's not so much a scar as a tattoo and a reminder of the biggest mistake of my life, but they're both still cursed."

"I know, I'm not talking about removing it, I'm talking about a way to conceal it. With art." Kate stood up and unbuckled her jeans, revealing a part of her hip where she had a little lotus flower tattooed on the ridge of the bone. The little purple flower went from a bud to a blooming lotus and back.

"That is gorgeous," Hermione complimented. She reached out and touched the petals, and they reacted to her touch opening further. "How is it I've never seen it before?"

"Well it's not like I go around unzipping my jeans in front of you, do I?"

"Oh you know what I mean," Hermione giggled. "I mean, I've seen you in bathing clothes, and while trying on clothes during that _horrid_ shopping trip, why haven't I noticed it before?"

"That shopping trip was _amazing_ , don't even try and pretend it was horrid. As for my tattoo, I have it for me, not for anyone else. It's charmed to be seen when I want people to see it, the charm is in the ink itself. It even blooms in different colors, kind of like a muggle mood ring. But this is my idea, you two charm your arms to hide your shame, but why hide it? I know you can't get rid of it completely, but why not… not embrace it exactly, but why not change it's appearance so it's something you have control over, something you want to see, something you want everyone to see? Why not get a wizard tattoo to make it beautiful?"

"Would it even work?" Draco wondered, taking the glamour off his arm, the mask he often wore to hide his feelings firmly in place. The mark had greyed considerably with the death of Voldemort, but you could still see the ugly outline through the pale skin. He couldn't help the small glimmer of hope that took up residence in his chest, burning like a small coal fire. He couldn't imagine a day when he looked down at his arm and felt anything other than fear, shame, and self loathing. _Is it even possible that I could find someone who could make me comfortable in my own skin again? To feel at ease wearing short sleeves in the summer, going swimming in a public pool, or at the beach?_

"I don't see why not." Kate grinned. "It would have to be a pretty big piece, but with magic anything is possible. Cover ups are done in the muggle and wizarding worlds. I don't see why they couldn't cover that up, and I know they can cover up your scar Hermione, they do it all the time in the muggle world for people with mastectomy and burns scars. Make something beautiful out of such an unpleasant reminder of your past."

Harry ogled at his girlfriend, completely amazed at her knowledge of the muggle world, and clearly tattoos. _Did she know all of this all along, or did she research it just for Hermione?_ he wondered to himself. Not that it mattered, he was just truly touched that she'd thought of this for her. For _them_.

"What do you think Harry?" Hermione asked, looking at her friend. "Do you think it will work?"

"I don't see why we can't at least find out. I think it would be easier than hiding it; you don't have to hide it Hermione, but I know it's a constant reminder of harsher times for you. If we can make it something not as… horrifying, maybe it will be a big step to healing."

"Okay, I want to talk with Draco about it a little more. I think I'll do some research about magical ink."

"Okay," Kate agreed. "Do it now, because I've already made you both appointments with my artist for Saturday after the holiday. Take my laptop," she ordered, looking at Hermione. "You know how to use this thing right?" she asked, giving the machine directly to Hermione and giving Draco a look that said she did not trust him with her muggle pride and joy.

"Of course I do," Hermione said, snorting at her obvious distrust. "I promise, I won't let Draco touch it." With this last statement, Hermione put her hand over her heart and closed her eyes solemnly.

"Hey!" Draco yelled, mildly insulted, as Kate simultaneously said "Good!"

"Now get out, I want to look at my boyfriend's ass," Kate winked as she straddled Harry's lap.

"Eww," Hermione yelled and bolted for the door with Draco at her heels. He slammed the door behind them, and with a laugh she put up locking and silencing charms.

"Come on Hermione," Draco laughed grabbing her hand. "Let's go do some research in my room. Yours is occupied, so you might as well sleep with me."

"Oh yeah? What am I going to sleep in?" She smirked at him. "My clothes are in my room."

"Oh I'm sure I have something," he grinned back at her. "I've got spare shirts for you to wear, they're very comfortable to sleep in."

"Oh really," she whispered stepping into his room. Turning to him she continued, "Won't your shirts be a bit large on me?"

"Yes, well... it's either one of mine, nothing at all, or you can chance going into your room and finding people in a compromising position. Though I have to admit, I'm partial to the 'nothing at all' scenario."

"Keep it in your pants Malfoy, we have _research_ to do!"

"OK love, though I'm not sure how I feel about the level of glee you attach to research. It can't be healthy."

"Oh bollocks, you love research just as much as I do. There's a reason you were number _two_ in our class Draco…"

"Don't think I didn't catch your emphasis on two there, Hermione!"

"Wouldn't dream of it," she said with a wink as she walked toward Draco's desk and began setting up the laptop.

While Hermione settled in at the computer, Draco decided to pursue the stacks in the academy's library to see if they had anything to lend to their current quest for knowledge. He found a few books on magical ink, and one particular book on cursed marks that he'd never seen before. He brought them all back to his room, but only after signing out each one under the watchful eye of the current librarian.

"Merlin, that woman seems to hate me!" Draco exclaimed finally returning from his trip. "She's even worse than Madam Pince…"

"I think it's like a prerequisite for manning a library meant for a bunch of teenagers; an intense distrust that they'll have any respect for the materials. Once you prove yourself to be trustworthy, they're usually fine! Irma loved me, I didn't need letters from a professor to get into the restricted section in my last year at Hogwarts. Thelma seems like a tougher nut to crack, but she smiled at me yesterday, I swear it…"

"Granger, do you mean to tell me that you are on first name basis with not only the Hogwarts librarian, but the librarian here at WAM?" he asked innocently.

Not fooled for a minute by his genial tone, she looked up and said quite primly, "Errrm… well it's not like we'd go out for butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks, but yes, we are…. civil."

Draco tried masterfully to contain his laughter, but when Hermione raised her nose in the air, just a fraction of an inch higher, he completely lost control. As he held his belly, trying to prevent it from coming apart with the force of his hilarity, Hermione stood and huffed, hands on her hips, looking down her nose at him.

"Are you quite finished?"

He coughed and spluttered as he desperately tried to rein himself in. "Yes, I'm sorry. Shall we continue?"

With a brief, "Hrmph" they both settled down and continued their research. After about an hour, Draco sat up closing the book he'd been reading.

"Well, everything I'm reading would suggest that it _might_ be possible, but as no one has really tried it before, the only way I think we're going to know for sure is if we give it a try."

"That matches everything that I've read too," Hermione said, nodding. "Did you look into any particular ideas you might have for what you want to put there?

Draco nodded shyly, not sure why the idea of describing his potential tattoo design intimidated him so. "It's called a tetramorph, have you ever heard of one?" She shook her head.

"It's a really old symbol, coopted by multiple religions and cultures over the centuries from the Egyptians to the Roman Catholics," he began, finding the page he'd bookmarked in one of the books on magical ink. Hermione was looking at him, a completely open expression on her face, waiting for him to continue. Thanking Salazar, Godric, Merlin, and whoever bloody else was listening that he found this woman, he continued.

"Basically, it's four symbols combined into one, but the whole thing is based on… redemption. A man, meant to represent the human element; the flaw in the design. A bull, or an ox, to represent sacrifice, a lion to represent dignity and an eagle to represent a reincarnation of sorts…" he trailed off quietly, searching her expression for some sign of how she felt about his choice.

"It's… Perfect," she said finally, smiling widely as she looked down at the rough drawing in the textbook. "Seriously, Draco! If the tattoo artist thinks it will cover your Dark Mark, then I totally think you should go for it."

"Yeah? I didn't know if you'd think it was silly…" he said rubbing the back of his neck with a shy grin on his face.

"In the end Draco, this is permanent ink on your body; it doesn't really matter if I like it, or not," she said practically.

"Of course it does! If you're going to be looking at it for the next couple of decades, I'd think it would be important that you not hate the thing…" he said, offhand.

It wasn't until he heard her quick intake of breath that he realized the depth of his statement. "I… I just meant, I'd prefer that you be on board with the whole thing before I go through with it is all."

"Of course," Hermione said quietly, putting her hand on his shoulder. She was correctly interpreting from the look on his face and his body language, that he hadn't meant to share the depth of his feeling with her just yet, and she was content to wait until he was ready. She couldn't help but feel like she wasn't quite ready to discuss them yet herself; they were so new that she hadn't really had a chance to stop and think about how much Draco actually meant to her. _Food for thought_ , she mused.

"What about you? Find a symbol you'd like to wear for the rest of eternity?" Draco quipped, grateful that she was letting his unintentional declaration slide, and eager to change the subject.

"Not really, no," she said, clearly agitated. "I can't seem to find anything that _means_ anything. I mean, yours… That's exactly what I want. Something that signifies how the war changed me."

He looked at the screen where Hermione had pulled together a collection of images that she presumably liked and he noticed a theme. "Like birds, do you Hermione?"

Not understanding what he was asking, she looked at him completely puzzled and he was intrigued to note one of her eyebrows arched quizzically in an expression very close to the one he'd seen in the mirror not all that infrequently. In response, he turned her in his desk chair to look straight at the screen and began pointing out how many of the images that she had selected were avian.

"Oh, I suppose I do!" she exclaimed, clearly amused at herself. "Not sure that helps me pick one, there are hundreds of thousand of species to choose from…"

"What about a phoenix?"

Hermione gaped at him for a solid minute before motioning him to continue.

"Well, phoenixes have miraculous healing powers in their tears, they're incredibly loyal and they live multiple lives, growing and learning from their experiences. Being born anew, with a clean slate every time…"

Hermione continued to stare at Draco before turning to the computer and doing a quick search for images of a phoenix. Draco came up and looked over her shoulder and at the same time, they both pointed to the same image and said, "That one."

With tears in her eyes, Hermione launched herself at Draco, giving him the tightest hug she'd ever given a person. "Thank you," she murmured into his neck, placing a kiss on top of her words.

Draco pulled back from her a little bit so he could see her face before he leaned in for a kiss. The kiss was heartbreakingly sweet and slow, conveying all sorts of feelings the couple couldn't quite articulate. Giving into his baser instincts, Draco deepened the kiss, pressing Hermione into the mattress and started sliding his hand under her shirt so he could feel the skin on her stomach. Hermione, who still had a grip on her wand, paused to raise it and put up their own silencing and locking charms, taking an additional moment to murmur a charm with her wand pointed over her pelvis. "See," Draco grinned, nodding in approval at her obvious proficiency at the contraception charm, "That's not hard at all. Charms first, _then_ fun."

* * *

The group of students left a few days later for a week stay with Kate's family. Once again the group was standing in the common room waiting for Hermione to finish packing, though this time Kate took it upon herself to help her, cutting off the inevitable repacking, so it didn't take as long.

Kate came out with a huge grin on her face. "I'm so proud! She packed all on her own and not a single oversized sweater made it into her suitcase."

"Shut up Kate," Hermione huffed. "I do know how to dress, I just don't always see the need for it and since we're going to be staying with your parents I wasn't going to just dress like a slob or anything."

"Good idea 'Mione," Sarah said with chuckle. "Mrs. Mills would have just taken you shopping again and she is ten times worse than Kate when it comes to fashion."

Hermione paled. "Glad I decided to pack just about everything then."

Everyone laughed and she went to stand over with Draco who put his arm around her and kissed her forehead. "I like whatever you wear Love, even if it's an awful jumper that is three sizes too big for you."

"Remember that when Mrs. Weasley sends my handmade Christmas jumper, if I get one. I haven't received any howlers yet, but I don't think she would have been happy with that article," she whispered, so only he and Ginny could hear her.

"She wasn't pleased," Ginny confirmed causing Hermione's mouth to drop. "She does seem to realize you are an adult and have to make your own _choices_ though."

"Which means she isn't pleased that it wasn't one of her sons," Hermione voiced, knowing full well Mrs. Weasley intended for Hermione to marry Ron and bare her grandchildren. "When will she realize I'm not interested in any of the boys like that? They might as well be my brothers. It took a while to realize it, but that's the way it is. I'm not interested in marrying George, Ron, or Percy." Hermione shuddered at the last name, and Ginny laughed.

"What about Charlie?" Ginny said with a sly grin.

"No, thanks! I am fond of my future husband coming home without burn scars," Hermione chuckled, seeing the confused look on Draco's face. "Charlie is a dragon trainer in Romania," she explained resting her hand on his arm. "He's also like seven years older than me and I'm really not interested. I mean he's attractive, but not really my type."

"Not into dangerous types 'Mione?" Sarah teased. Theo started choking on his own tongue, and Draco turned slightly pink.

Hermione looked around at all the Hogwarts students astutely looking anywhere but at her and Draco. "Um, no, it's not that I don't like dangerous types, I just don't care for drag...ons…" Pansy started laughing hysterically, and it was Hermione's turn to blush realizing what she just said.

Draco started chuckling, "Really Hermione? I was pretty sure you liked at least one _dragon_."

"Yes, well... I guess there is always an exception."

"Yes and I just happen to be exceptional," Draco stated haughtily. Ginny, Harry, and Neville started laughing. "What?" Draco grinned back at them.

"Nothing, just had a sudden flashback as to why I didn't like you much in the past," Hermione sniggered.

"I'm constantly reminded why I didn't like you in the past; you always were a little know it all," Draco retorted back with no venom behind it and a smile.

"Draco has had a crush on you since fourth year," Pansy proclaimed with an evil smile. "Ever since the Yule Ball."

"Pansy!" Draco shouted, turning pink again.

"What is with fourth year?" Hermione laughed. "A little sleek easy in my hair and a dress, and everyone suddenly remembers I'm a girl."

"Yes well," Theo started with a grin, "You do remember what you used to wear right? If it wasn't for the Yule ball we'd all still be wondering."

"Yes, thank you for reminding me that I was an unattractive dog at Hogwarts," Hermione huffed. "Really though, it's not like many guys were falling all over themselves to get to me after fourth year."

"There were plenty," Ginny said. "But having uh, two male best friends didn't help them wanting to come up and talk to you."

"Nevermind, doesn't matter now anyways," Hermione conceded. "Let's get going. Kate where are we headed?"

"Well," Kate started as everyone gathered round, "We were supposed to go to my family home here in California, but my mother has decided, in her infinite wisdom, that spending the holidays in Aspen is really much better. So we are headed to our cabin in Aspen, Colorado. I hope you all know how to ski or snowboard! There is a wizarding resort nearby that has enchanted the slopes to always have perfect conditions. So we will be having some snow fun."

Kate held out the portkey and everyone grabbed hold for their next adventure.


	16. Snowboards and Frolics in the Forest

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N:** We all have went through a tiny writers block. It sucks dragons balls when that happens, but the Mojo is back and this chapter has some tart, yet simply lovely LEMONS! Love to #Wandlorefangirls

* * *

 **~Chapter 16 - Snowboards and Frolics in the Forest~**

The students landed outside a set of gates to Kate's vacation home in the early morning. The grounds were still dark, but stunning with huge, snow covered white pine trees that spattered across the landscape, and a curtain of needles shielding the view of the house from the roadway. You could see the light pouring out from the windows of the house like a lantern leading them in the night, making the whole place feel wholesome and inviting. Kate opened the gate with her wand and stepped through the wards.

The house itself was a log cabin style and looked to be about three stories tall, giant windows adorning the front of the home through which all the welcoming light was coming. "Let's go everyone, I'm sure mommy dearest is waiting for us. I hope she is at least, I shudder to think what state we might find my parents in otherwise." The WAM students started to laugh; Kate was always complaining about her parents and their sex life.

They all entered the vast foyer, and were met with a woman's silky voice. "Hello children, welcome to our home. Come in, come in. Lets sit in the study, where I can get to know all you new faces. I have coffee, tea, and pastries if you're hungry," she called over shoulder leading the way down the hall.

Kate was not exaggerating about her mother. Mrs. Mills was every bit as blunt as Kate and very handsy with her husband. The first thirty minutes of their introductions was spent discussing how English wizards are very handsome, and wondering if they were as dull in bed as was the muggle saying. Which of course, Pansy had to put to rest as being a myth, seeing as she had slept with both Draco and Theo. Mrs. Mills started to ask if it was at the same time, but Kate coughed and ended that particular line of questioning while Jake chuckled in the background. Kate decided not to comment on the issue of what English wizards were like in bed as Harry's face was an interesting shade of violet. _His embarrassment knows no bounds_ , she thought to herself, amused at his increasing discomfort. _My Gods, is he even breathing?_

Neville put his hand over Jess' mouth, hissing epithets in her ear as she looked like she was about to answer. He couldn't stop her hand gestures though, and she gesticulated wildly what were clearly the signs for 'not true' and 'giant'. Neville got a vice-like arm around both of hers before she could elaborate exactly what was 'giant'. Mr. Mills just sat there watching the entire spectacle with a bemused grin on his face, and his hand caressing his wife's Chanel covered butt.

Seeing her mother's eyes start to glaze slightly over her father's ministrations, Kate quickly called the elves to bring all the luggage up to the third floor which was set up for the students, and ushered her friends out the front door, yelling that they were going to the nearby resort for some skiing lessons. As Kate was closing the door, there was a distinct groan from where they left her parents and Kate paled, slamming it shut the rest of the way.

"My parents ladies and gents," Kate grumbled clearly embarrassed at how her parents were very much in tune with each other. "I wish they would at least act _slightly_ appropriate in front of my friends. Come on guys, lets hit the slopes." She went over to the garage and decided on one of the new SUVs there. The inside was, of course, charmed to accommodate as many as it needed, so everyone piled in and they were off.

Kate drove the SUV like she raced her own car; too fast and with great care. Draco, who had imperiously claimed the front seat, leaving Hermione to have some best friend time, was completely enthralled. "Can you teach me how to drive Kate?" he asked her with what looked like glee on his pale, pointed face.

Laughing as she weaved through traffic, pulling the emergency brake as she turned into the parking lot in a harrowing ninety degree turn and launching herself full speed into the long driveway in front of the resort she said, "Sure! If you love riding a broom, you'll completely _adore_ driving."

Kate left the car at valet and walked inside with her friends; having been regulars at the resort for so long, she was familiar with the staff and she threw a wink over her shoulder saying, "Don't drive _too_ far with it this time Brian!" She walked the group through the lounge area and outside to the equipment room, so they could be outfitted with skis or snowboards. Kate found that none of the Hogwarts students had ever been snowboarding, and that Hermione had tried skiing with her parents a few times but didn't really care for it.

"Well today, we are all going to try snowboarding. And when I say 'try' I mean, you are going to _try_ it and we will _try_ not to laugh at you for your efforts," Jake joked to his friends with a snigger.

First up they had to determine who would ride goofy and who would ride standard. Jake took far too much pleasure in sneaking up behind each of them and giving them a quick shove as Kate and the WAM kids got everyone situated with snow bibs, snow jackets, boots, boards, goggles, hats and gloves.

"Alright kiddies, Nev, Harry and Draco - you'll all ride goofy, the rest of you -"

"I beg your pardon?" Draco drawled while bringing himself up to his full height and raising his nose in the air a bit. Neville and Harry couldn't help but laugh at the slightly pompous scowl on his face.

"Relax Malfoy, riding goofy means with your left foot forward. Remember when I shoved you earlier?"

"I think we all remember when you shoved us earlier..." Draco smirked, remembering how Neville had turned around and picked Jake up by his shirt front until he'd raised his arms in surrender swearing loudly that it was part of the process.

"Yeah well, as I said - I needed to shove you to see which foot you put forward to brace yourself. It's how you know which foot to put forward on your board - after all, it's not like you can change your mind halfway through!"

When they all were dressed, they were ready to begin lessons on how to snowboard. Kate flirted with one of the instructors to give the students the basics of snowboarding on one of the beginner slopes. They learned the proper stance, how to lean into turns, how to stop, and most importantly how to fall without completely damaging yourself. Harry mentioned it looked similar to skateboarding that he had seen the muggle boys do in Little Whinging back in Surrey. He reminisced fondly of the time Dudley had gotten a skateboard for his fourteenth birthday and promptly snapped it in half trying to get on it, falling on his fat bottom, and smacking his head on the ground.

For two hours the lessons continued. Jake, Chris, and Ben tutored Ginny, Theo, and Pansy, while Kate, Jess, and Sarah took on Harry, Neville, Hermione, and Draco.

The star of the group, surprising everyone, but Theo, was Pansy. She had paid attention to what the instructor had said with a laser like focus and was now taking in all of the practical tips that Jake, Chris, and Ben had to offer like a sponge. The first time they got to the top of the beginner's hill to give it a try on their own, she got off the lift like a pro, snapped herself into her board, lowered her goggles and said simply, "Let's do this!" She bunny hopped forward and the group watched as she cut graceful lines, albeit fairly safe and controlled ones, all the way down the hill, stopped gracefully and then stood there with a hand on her hip, examining her nails as if she was bored.

"That's my woman," Theo said, determined not to make a complete ass of himself after she'd acquitted herself so admirably. To his credit, he made it all the way down without completely bailing, if a little less gracefully than she had.

"How the hell did he do that!?" Hermione all but shrieked as she watched Theo and Pansy give each other a high five at the bottom. It was clear to everyone that Ms. Granger, know-it-all swot and brightest witch of the age, was more than slightly perplexed at the idea of not being good at something.

"He has good balance, and he's pretty wirey - some people are just naturals Hermione - relax!" Chris said, bumping her shoulder causing Hermione to stumble a bit and catch herself. Draco, narrowed his eyes at Chris who laughed back and mouthed, "Sorry!" before taking his own turn down the hill.

Draco caught both Hermione's hands in his and said, "Chris is right love, you need to relax - even _you_ have to be bad at _something!"_

Watching her start biting her lip and worry her gloved hands together, he realized he might have to take a different tact. "Plus," he murmured, so only she could hear, "I'm pretty sure I saw him cast an imperturbable charm on his arse. Remember that time about half way down where he looked like he was going to eat shit?" He knew she did, they were all pretty impressed that Theo had managed to stay on his feet after sitting back that far. Of course, Draco knew that Theo was incredibly agile and likely had committed the feat of athletic prowess all on his own, but he wasn't going to tell _her_ that.

"That sneaky _snake_!" she seethed, eyes narrowed and pulled her goggles over her eyes. "My turn," she said with such a fierce look of determination on her face that Draco couldn't help but be awed and proud all at the same time. _Uh oh_ , he thought to himself, _I think I could fall for this girl._ With only two small bobbles, and one wipe out, Hermione made it down the hill.

Ginny, Draco, and Harry were all pretty good. Being quidditch players made balancing easier on the boards; once they figured it out, they were whizzing by without issues. Neville, however, was a different story. Being accident prone in the past, Neville had just stayed away from all kinds of sports - his anxiety about snowboarding was clear. He'd sent Jess on down the hill to be with her friends, joking that he didn't want her to be anywhere near him when he finally made the journey down lest he take them both out. She'd agreed reluctantly and was eagerly awaiting him down at the bottom of the hill; he could practically feel her anticipation from where he stood. So focused was he on the task at hand that he didn't hear Chris approaching until he clapped a hand on his shoulder. _Good Godric_ , he thought to himself, _I must really be terrified if I let someone get that close to me without knowing they were there._

"Nev, old buddy, old pal - what are you waiting for?" Chris asked, arm around his shoulders in what was meant to be a bracing gesture.

"Oh, you know, just contemplating the nye on a million ways that this could all go horribly, horribly wrong…"

Chris laughed, and Neville gave him a side eyed glare. "Seriously Neville? You'll ride a five hundred pound, gasoline powered death trap going 200 kilometers per hour, but you're afraid of a little… snowboarding?"

"Motorcycles are easy," Neville muttered, shrugging his shoulders like his coat was too tight.

"So is snowboarding dude, they're almost the exact same. Riding a bike you have to find the sweet spot; use your muscles so that you're perfectly centered, not too far left, or too far right. Then when you want to turn, you just sort of lean into it, like you would a girls arms, you know?"

Neville smiled and nodded. He'd made that comparison in his own mind several times since he'd met Jess.

"Well, in snowboarding, it's pretty much the same only you need to find the sweet spot between forward and backwards as well as left and right. Then, when you want to turn you lean backwards, or forwards instead of left, or right. Make sense?"

"Strangely enough, it does actually."

Neville squared his shoulders, bent over and snapped his free foot into the bindings. He checked his gloves, tightened his helmet and put on his goggles.

"Yeah, yeah, you're all strapped in bud, now can we do this thing, or not? There's some extraordinary ski bunnies down there that I would love to become better acquainted with," Chris said, slapping Neville on the back and giving him a lewd grin.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," Neville muttered. He took a deep breath, bunny hopped until he was on the brink of the slope, sent up a small prayer, and shifted his weight. He found out that Chris was right, if he thought of it like he was riding a bike, he became less focused on what everyone thought and how bad he was at all things athletic and just… rode. He bailed spectacularly about halfway down the hill, but was encouraged by the raucous applause from his friends at the bottom of the hill and the huge shit eating grin that Chris had on his face when he helped him up.

"Looks like you scored a perfect ten bud!" Chris said, helping Neville dust himself off. Confused, Neville looked at where Chris was now pointing and saw that Kate, Jake, Sarah and Ben were all holding up transfigured score cards with the number ten on them. Laughing at himself, Neville set himself up and continued down the hill with no mishaps.

Reaching the bottom, Jess scooted over and gave him a noisy kiss and said, "Well done, love!"

"Thanks, Jess…" Neville replied, blushing slightly. Looking at the rest of the group, he nodded saying, "Right then, shall we get on with it, or what?"

After a couple of hours in the snow, laughing and falling, the group walked into the resort for some lunch and to warm up. Hermione looked up and down the length of the table, smiling widely as she caught Neville kissing Jess on the forehead with a perfectly contented look on his handsome face. She remembered how just a year ago he was causing problems with the new, cruel staff of Hogwarts with Ginny, his expression nowhere near that happy.

Theo was stealing a piece of fruit off Pansy's plate, and joking with Ben and Chris. She realized she couldn't even remember ever talking to Theo before they were in the WAM common room. How Harry and her spent their days and nights afraid for their lives, on the run trying to find a way to stop Voldemort. And up until three months ago, the blonde next to her, her handsome boyfriend, was her tormentor in school. _The difference a year makes_ , she thought shaking her head feeling a chuckle rise to her throat.

Harry looked over at his friend, "What's so funny 'Mione?"

Hermione smiled at Harry. "Just beginning to get into the spirit of this holiday and realizing how much we have to be thankful for."

Harry understood and smiled back. "I know what you mean. I am very thankful that Neville lost his toad first year and that bushy haired girl came bursting through the train compartment looking for it."

Hermione laughed at that particular memory. "Yes, I remember; I fixed your glasses. You were always breaking them back then. I remember being so excited to find other kids that were just like me." Hermione looked over at Draco. He glanced up from his lunch at the same time and gave her a true smile. _So much has changed in such a short time,_ she thought to herself. _It's nice to be thankful for more than just living another day._ "I'm just happy that we are spending our first Thanksgiving with such a great group of friends, old and new."

"Geez Hermione, you are such a 'Puff," Pansy giggled.

Hermione rolled her eyes with a smile at her Slytherin friend and said, "And what's wrong with that, might I ask?" There was no heat behind the question, and it was completely rhetorical; she knew Pansy was teasing.

"What you will be spending your first Thanksgiving in," Kate laughed, "is pain. We're going to need to get some extra bruise paste and some healing potions for you newbies, because you will be hurting in a couple hours."

Sure enough, a couple hours later the Hogwarts kids were slathered up in bruise paste and sitting around Kate's third floor loft. Ben had put on the stereo and muggle music came pouring out of the speakers. The guys were sitting around talking quidditch, and trying to teach the Hogwarts guys the finer points of American football while the girls were laying around the rug laughing, and changing their nail colors again using Pansy's charm.

Everything was peaceful and fun when 'Whatta Man' by Salt n Peppa came on the stereo and Hermione and Kate both shrieked and jumped up, beginning to dance and sing along to the song.

 _What a man, what a man, what a man  
What a mighty good man..._

Hermione even surprised everyone when she knew the lyrics and continued with the rap.

 _I wanna take a minute or two, and give much respect due  
To the man that's made a difference in my world..._

Hermione continued the rest of the song without Kate's help, dancing around the rug with her hands in the air, eyes closed as she felt the music flow through her.

Kate's eyes widened, and then she grinned in appreciation. Her friend was just full of surprises, wasn't she? Who would have thought that Hermione Granger, sweet, British girl, liked hip hop? Hermione was dancing around, not really paying attention to the fact that her friends had all moved over to the rug to watch her dance around sing along to the song. Draco grinned over at Harry with his eyebrows in his hairline as if to say, _really_? Harry grinned back and shook his head. He and Ginny were used to Hermione singing along to songs she liked, but they never had much muggle music around the Burrow, so this particular burst of vocals was new to him.

Hermione finished the song with her back to her friends. Cheers and clapping erupted from behind her, and she whirled around to see everyone sitting on the rug watching her routine. She met Draco's gaze before lifting her hands to cover her red face, full of embarrassment.

Kate, Sarah, and Jess came running up and started talking at once.

"You were amazing!"

"You like hip hop?"

"You should sing more often!"

Hermione laughed and shook her head. "I told you all I love music, I'm so embarrassed though. I haven't heard that song in such a long time, I couldn't help myself."

Draco came up and hugged her. "Anymore secrets you'd like to share, Princess?"

"What? It's not a secret, I used to sing all the time at Hogwarts."

"When?" Pansy asked not buying it. "I mean, I know we weren't friends, but I'm sure we would have noticed if you suddenly burst into song."

Hermione laughed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, because I'm going to do that in the Great Hall at breakfast." she said wryly. "You guys didn't need anymore ammunition to make fun of me, you had plenty of that yourselves. Especially you," she smirked at her boyfriend, poking him in the chest. "Last thing I needed was you doing an impression of me behind Snape's back in potions class…" The Hogwarts kids sobered a bit at the mention of their deceased potions professor. Hermione decided to stray away from this particular line of thought; no one outside of England needed to know their past history.

Theo, always one to try and lighten the mood, hung his head in mock shame. "I'd say sorry Granger, but I'd be lying. You were just so much fun to tease. I assure you, I've outgrown it. Well, maybe not, you're still fun to tease, but at least now you know I am properly afraid of hurting your feelings. Not only would Draco be as pissed as an insulted hippogriff, but he'd have to spend all that time putting me back together after you rip me to pieces…"

The Hogwarts students all laughed at Theo's choice phrase about the hippogriff, though Draco looked less than pleased at that reminder of his reckless youth; he laughed in the end. "There is one thing I know for sure about Hermione," he started as he kissed her temple, "She does not need anyone to fight her battles. I learned that in third year; I still have the scar, you know."

Harry and Hermione both laughed at the memory. "Yes, well," Hermione smiled slyly, "For a little while, that was my happy memory when I tried to conjure a patronus, but it wasn't strong enough for more than a couple wisps of smoke," she sighed dramatically. "Guess punching you in the face, while incredibly satisfying at the time, wasn't quite as 'happy' as I thought it would be..."

"Yes, well point is, you don't need me to defend you," Draco clarified before anyone could ask why she punched him. "You are a strong witch. You don't need to be saved by anyone."

Hermione grinned. Finally someone who understood that she could and _needed_ to take care of herself.

* * *

The first couple days of the holidays passed without much fuss. Kate's parents were busy preparing for the feast and the students spent their days at the resort skiing, snowboarding, and generally having a good time. Chris especially had a good time as he was caught by Jake, Ginny, and Sarah with his snow bib undone and in the throes of a heated shag with one of the guests of the resort in a gondola going up the mountain. Jake had spent the next afternoon ribbing Chris about how if he wanted to fuck in the gondola, he would have to get his technique right so he wouldn't get caught, or leave his lady hanging. The gondola ride was only about two minutes long, not really long enough for any foreplay.

They also spent a lot of time outside in the woods behind Kate's home. Kate had mentioned that her family owned everything up until the woods hit the mountainside, so they could go exploring if they'd like. One particular evening, after spending time around an enchanted campfire, the group set off to do some exploring. Unfortunately, exploring meant finding their friends in various states of undress at unexpected moments.

Kate and Harry were taking a leisurely walk through the woods when they spotted Neville holding Jess up against a tree. Harry did an about face and pulled Kate in the opposite direction, but not before she made a quip about Neville's amazing upper body strength. Thinking they'd be safe in the middle of a cold clearing, warming charms are amazing in Colorado weather, Harry and Kate continued their walk speaking of nothing in particular when they heard thinly veiled conversation.

"Out here Pans? Really?"

"Like you haven't had sex in a public place before Theo…"

Harry groaned. _Why can't I take a walk through the woods with my girlfriend without stumbling upon any of my classmates shagging someone!?_ he thought, completely exasperated. They made to turn and head off in the other direction when they heard the unmistakable sound of Theo giving in to Pansy's demands. All of the sudden, they heard yet another noise coming from the direction in which they were trying to head. Panicking, Kate cast a disillusionment charm on both her and Harry, and ducked behind a nearby rock.

"Kate!" Harry hissed, realizing too late that they were completely trapped in the position they were in.

"Well, I'm _sorry_ ," she spat, clearly just as agitated as he was about being forced to witness Theo and Pansy go at it. "I didn't know what to do, and I panicked."

" _Great_. Just great! Now we get a front row seat to Pansy and Theo shagging under the bloody stars. Just what I had in mind for a romantic stroll through the woods with the woman I'm falling in love with." Harry froze, breathing heavily. _Bloody hell_ , he thought. _Nice one mate, tell the girl you love her while you're yelling at her. Nicely done._

Kate looked up at him, the mask that she wore to hide her feelings firmly in place. "What did you say?"

"What I was _trying_ to say before I cocked it all up was… Kate, I think I'm in love with you."

"You think?"

"Well, I _am_ pretty sure, but my track record is bad, so I tend to use qualifiers," he said with a shy grin.

When he was met with the silent contemplative look on Kate's face, he felt he needed to explain. "Look, I know it hasn't been _that_ long since you and I started… seeing each other," he said, glancing at her through his periphery to be sure she knew what he meant. Given the small smile he saw on her face, he thought she must. "But, I haven't felt like this about a girl, a woman," he amended in a hurry, "And I just had to say something."

He shuffled his feet as he tried to marshal his words. _Take down a megalomaniac? Sure, why not? Tell a girl you love her? Bugger off, that's too hard,_ he thought to himself.

"Kate, you've quickly become one of my best friends. You're honest, kind, caring and fiercely loyal. What you've done for Malfoy and Hermione - learning their darkest secrets and loving them anyway… I didn't have a chance, love," he whispered, as much from the intensity of his feelings as to keep from being overheard by the on comer and his coupled classmates. He put his hand up to her face, and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "You know what you want, you're determined enough to get it, and you love with _everything_ that you are. It's only fair that I tell you that I love _you_ with everything that _I_ am."

The tears that had been slowly building up with Harry's words finally spilled over, trailing gently down her cheeks. He wiped them away slowly and leaned in to kiss her. She put a hand on his chest, stopping him. "I love you too, Harry."

The breath that Harry didn't realize he'd been holding, finally escaped from his chest and he swore his heart grew fifteen sizes right then. Not willing to waste any more time, he kissed her soundly, his hands wrapped in her hair. It wasn't until they heard the sounds of flesh on flesh that they remembered their current predicament. Harry groaned again, putting his forehead against Kate's, wishing fervently that they were anywhere, but here.

"Oh love, it's just a little bit of sex. We'll sit here and wait them out - how long could they be?"

Just then, the on comer appeared in the form of Ben, who froze having evidently heard what was going on just a few feet ahead of him. He seemed to be trying to come to a decision when Pansy's voice rang out, "Who's there?"

Kate and Harry wore twin looks of horror as they saw Ben square his shoulder and head towards Theo and Pansy.

"It's me," Ben said, stepping out of the shadows. Kate couldn't resist, so she peaked out from her hiding spot.

Pansy had evidently called out on a whim and Theo, completely unconcerned, had just continued about his business, hips pistoning in and out of Pansy as her head snapped up and her eyes locked on Ben. Theo, upon hearing Ben say his name, stopped his thrusting to turn his head over his shoulder and examine their new friend. The look on Ben's face was absolutely naked emotion; you could see how much he wanted what they had.

Seconds turned into minutes as Theo considered. Finally, he looked down at Pansy and after a moment of wordless communication, he looked Ben in the eye and said, "Well, are you joining, or not?" Waving the wand he'd had nearby and casting a quick _Evanesco_ , liberating Ben of every stitch of his clothing.

After indulging in a quick moment of shock, Ben headed over to the couple, not needing to be asked twice. He went straight for Pansy, grabbing her face with both hands and kissing her fervently, only breaking the kiss to whisper a heartfelt, "Thank you," to which her only reply was a satisfied moan as Theo resumed his thrusting. When Ben looked over and leaned in to kiss Theo, Kate ducked back into her hiding place feeling like quite the voyeur.

"Is what I think is happening, actually happening?" Harry asked quietly.

"If you think that Theo is about to become the meat in a Ben and Pansy sandwich, then yes."

Just then Ben had taken his place behind Theo, using Hermione's lubricant charm and took him with a long, slow thrust. Twin groans of pleasure emitted from both of them, and Pansy's followed shortly after as she came.

"Sweet mother of Godric," Harry murmured, horrendously embarrassed that he was privy to what ought to be an _incredibly_ private moment. "Screw this, Kate, we're getting out of here, whether they hear us or not!" he hissed. Just then he heard Hermione's voice in his head, _Harry_ _James Potter, are you a wizard, or not!?_

Holding on tight to his wand, he cast a wandless imperturbable charm on the rock they were hiding behind, and another every foot on both sides, effectively creating a wall of silence with which to hide behind. When he was certain it had held, he grabbed Kate's hand and they ran as fast and as far as their feet would carry them.

"Seems like these woods are filled with Amortentia," Harry whispered to Kate as they finally slowed down. Kate giggled quietly until they were sure they were out of earshot of the threesome.

"Well more power to them," Kate grinned at her boyfriend. Harry kept shaking his head to try and lose the image and the sounds of the threesome. "Nothing wrong with experimenting, Mr. Potter."

Harry laughed, albeit somewhat awkwardly. "I know that, doesn't mean I don't get surprised by it. We can _never_ tell them, or anyone Kate. I'll die of embarrassment. And if we stumble across Malfoy and Hermione, I'll burn my eyes right out of my head. Straight incendio to the iris."

"What was that Potter?" Draco and Hermione were sitting in the frozen garden reading under warming charms, wandlight, and thick blankets.

"Uh, nothing," Harry stuttered, "Just that I never realized just how much you and Hermione had in common, bookworm."

"That's the best you got Potter?" Draco chuckled. "You're losing your touch."

Harry opened his mouth to retort but Hermione shot him a look that clearly said to stop. Draco caught it and laughed full heartedly, clutching his sides clearly enjoying the fact that his girlfriend could silence the Boy Who Lived with a look.

Harry scowled. "I don't know what you're laughing about, Malfoy," he started with a threatening tone. "She may be able to keep me from saying something stupid, but she can withhold sex from _you_."

Draco immediately stopped laughing and paled slightly at that realization, looking down at his girlfriend who had a smug look on her face and a knowing smirk. Realizing that Harry was right, he groaned and his friends just laughed at how clearly whipped the great Draco Malfoy was when it came to Hermione. How did this happen? A few years ago Draco Malfoy wouldn't have even looked at any girl as a long term commitment, let alone Hermione and here he was in a long term, committed relationship with a girl he loved. He sat up straight as the word love crossed his mind. _Wait, hold on a minute,_ he thought, panicking slightly. _I'm not in love with Granger… am I?_ He liked her a lot; she was brilliant and beautiful. She understood him in a way that few people did, or took the time to, and he loved to spend nights holding her and talking. Honestly, he couldn't picture his life without her in it, but surely that wasn't love? Though, come to think of it, had he ever been in love? Did he even really know what love was? His only real relationship besides Hermione was Pansy and that was definitely not love - that was extreme lust that started with an impure thought and ended right after he came. He had never really loved anyone but his mother and that was not the same type of love. _No_ , he thought, _I may not know what love is exactly, but I know I'm not in love with anybody._ His tension eased slightly as he let those thoughts trail across his subconscious, like if he thought them over and over again, it might make them true.

"Anyways," Kate said with chuckle, interrupting his reverie,"Thanksgiving is tomorrow, then on Friday we will be apparating into the city for Black Friday sales and then Saturday is tattoo day! Now I told the gang that we will be leaving in the morning…" She stopped as she saw the anxious look on everyone's face. "Relax guys, I told them that I wanted to get a new piece myself and that you guys were interested in the process. Sarah and Jake are taking everyone else back to the resort for the day and we will meet them that evening for dinner in town."

"You certainly have everything planned," Hermione complimented, relaxing now that Kate had cleared up that particularly sticky details. She was incredibly grateful to have someone take care of logistics; usually it was her who did all the planning for the boys, it was nice to just sit back and let someone else take over for a change.

"Yup," Kate grinned. "It'll be great! Do you guys know what you are looking for?"

Draco and Hermione both nodded. "Yes," Hermione whispered as Pansy, Theo, and Ben all came out of the forest more disheveled than they went in. "It's a bit of a secret, but I think we both found perfect pieces."

"Oi, you lot," Draco called out with a snicker. "Nice walk? Didn't get lost around that fallen tree trunk did you Nott?"

Pansy turned slightly pink, but Theo was without blush. "No, though I thank you for your concern. I know my way around a tree trunk," he said, bowing dramatically. Kate burst into fits of giggles and Harry turned as red as Ginny's hair.

Draco laughed and gave his best friend a nod. "I'm sure you do mate. See you three later?" The three of them all agreed and walked up the garden into the house.

"Bloody hell Malfoy," Harry groaned, "Do you have to be such a prat?"

"Yes," Hermione and Kate chimed in unison.

"What?" Draco shrugged. "I always suspected Theo was sexually fluid. Do you know how many times I caught him and Blaise trading glances? That image will forever haunt me."

"Hmm," Hermione mused with a glazed look, clearly picturing the two boys in a Hogwarts bed doing unmentionable things to each other. She glanced at Draco who had raised a quizzical eyebrow at the expression on her face. "What?" she asked defensively.

Draco laughed. "Absolutely nothing love, I just love that you are a dirty minded witch, you know that? Was she always like this Potter, or is this just a recent development?"

Harry groaned pinching the bridge of his nose. "New. Definitely _new_. I think it's Kate's influence to be honest, Hermione was not this… provocative, when we were at Hogwarts."

Hermione scoffed. "Give me a little credit Harry, it's not like Hogwarts was exactly prime pickings for the likes of me. Not many would look that closely at the Gryffindor bookworm."

"Does that mean I didn't help cultivate this little sexy Goddess sitting in front of me?" Kate asked with a mock sense of hurt. "I thought I brought the wanton hussy out of you Hermione."

Hermione snorted. "'Wanton hussy'? I didn't realize I had gotten that bad."

Draco smirked. "Well, compared to the by-the-book, know-it-all bookworm we all knew, I guess you could be classified a bit more… alluring. Just look at you this year compared to previous years."

"Oh shut it," she whispered kissing his cheek as she moved to straddle him on the bench.

Harry grumbled something about seeing too many people naked, grabbed a laughing Kate and stomped off towards the house. Kate was pulling back and yelling something about spending some time in the hot tub if they wanted to join later. Hermione bit her lip seductively, and Draco raised an eyebrow looking down at her as she moved her head toward his neck and began to pepper him with kisses, settling at his pulse point. Draco pulled her closer to him, wrapping them both snuggly into the blankets they were sitting with.

"Watch it, witch," he whispered into her ear as he nipped it. "You are starting something and it's not like you're going to want to finish it out here," he drawled, caressing her cheek with his own as he looked at her with lust in his silver eyes. Her own honey colored eyes looked back at him with a mischievous sparkle. She reached between them, feeling the hard member between her fingers.

She kissed him again, this time at the jawline and caressed him further gaining a hiss from the blonde. "Who says I won't finish it?"

Draco groaned, he really did love this side of Hermione. He never knew what he was going to get and that she was so… interesting. Just goes to show you never judge a book by it's cover.

"Hermione, we're outdoors and you aren't exactly wearing easy access clothing," he whined gesturing towards her jeans.

Hermione chuckled darkly and slid down his lap, still under the blanket unzipping his trousers. Moving his cock outside of his pants and holding it in her hand she murmured, "Who says I was talking about finishing it that way?" And she began to lick the glistening tip before taking it fully in her mouth.

"Oh fuck," Draco groaned, quickly looking around to see that they were alone and casting a notice me not charm and a muffliato just for good measure as Hermione moved up and down his length. He brought his hands through her hair, trying to keep himself from pulling her down on him, but watched simultaneously amazed and more than a little turned on as she took more and more of his girth into her tiny throat. He could feel the tip of his dick meet the back of her throat and it took all his strength not to buck into her wet, hot mouth. She rotated between swallowing him whole and licking him like an icecream cone, one hand always working the length when her mouth was occupied elsewhere. Her hot breath coupled with the slightly chilled air, still cool but not freezing because of their warming charm, was having an excellent effect on his member. His groans came closer and closer together and she could feel his hands begin to twitch in her hair, trying not to push against her.

"Oh Merlin, Hermione," he gritted out watching his girlfriend bobbing under the blanket was possibly the most erotic thing he had ever seen. When she looked up at him through her lashes, brought her mouth off his cock with a smile, swirled her tongue against the head, and then moaned as she brought it back into her hot mouth, that was it. "Oh Sweet Salazar, I'm going to come, love," he warned her with a pant. She responded by taking him deeper into her throat and giving him a long suck as he found his release. She kept sucking on him, swallowing every drop. When it was over, she sat up and let him put himself back together

With a proud look on her face, she sat back on his lap as he leaned back against the bench. Using her wand, she freshened her breath and brought her lips down to his neck. "Are you OK Draco? You seem a bit… out of sorts." Hermione smirked.

Draco sniggered and shook his head. "You, Granger, are an evil woman."

She gave him a throaty laugh and brought her hands up and around his neck. "Yes, but you have no complaints."

His body shook with laughter as he said, "Not a bloody one."


	17. Reclamations

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N:** Thank you SO much to all the amazing readers and reviewers. We can't even begin to explain how much it makes our day to read them and feel the love. A big shout out to all you Wandlorain Loves!

* * *

~Chapter 17 - Reclamations~

Thanksgiving in the Mills home reminded Hermione of a Hogwarts feast. The table was laid with traditional American Thanksgiving foods; mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, dressing and turkey. There were also several types of desserts, including a pumpkin pie with a leaf made out of pie crust in the center. The wine and firewhiskey flowed freely making it a wonderful meal. Kate's mother was animated in her discussions with everyone at the table, as interested in class as she was schoolyard gossip. She was acerbic and quick witted which made for an incredibly entertaining evening.

When an innocent comment by Theo about the way Pansy's ass looked in those jeans led to a play by play of what had happened the last time Mrs. Mills had come home wearing a similar pair, Kate's father had stood abruptly, chuckling and lead his wife away, explaining that an excess of wine made his wife a little expansive, before bidding them good night.

The following morning, as they all gathered around the impressive dining room table to enjoy the spread of eggs, bacon, french toast, as well as bangers and mash for their foreign friends, Kate made an announcement.

"Hem, hem…" she said, trying to get their attention. The effect the noise made around the room was electric. Harry visibly flinched and started rubbing the back of his hand. Hermione and Draco looked up from their breakfast, glaring in Kate's direction, while Pansy and Theo braced themselves subconsciously next to one another, each prepared to go into battle for the other. Perhaps the most pronounced reaction was from Neville; his expression was murderous and his complexion ashen. He'd gone stiff as a board next to Jess who was urgently rubbing his back asking what was the matter.

Kate froze as the aftermath of what had seemed an innocuous noise registered, and she looked around at her friends, unclear what she should do next. Harry cleared his throat, looking around at his friends in reassurance before nodding his head and saying, "Sorry about that love, bad memories… Continue, wont you?"

"Uhh… sure. So, I thought that, since Thanksgiving is the best time for sales, we could all hit the shopping centers and see if we can knock off some Christmas shopping?"

For once, Kate seemed completely unsure of herself, posing the idea like a question to leave room for her friends to decline without them feeling like her feelings might get hurt. Almost everyone agreed, with Hermione volunteering excitedly, or at least appearing that away, to dispel some of the leftover tension in the room. A sharp elbow, and Draco was also agreeing saying that he had a couple of things in town that he needed to pick up to send home to his mother. Harry was on board, having stood to give Kate a quick squeeze and whisper in her ear; it had her grinning shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear as she tucked her face into Harry's shoulder. The only person who hadn't come around to the idea was Neville, whose complexion and body language had still not returned to normal. Jess was doing her best to figure out what was wrong when he shrugged her hand off his shoulder, stood up and walked out of the room.

Jess looked shocked and more than a little hurt at his reaction. Harry, having understood the problem immediately, hurried over and put a calming hand on Jess' shoulder before rushing after Neville.

"Well, good thing Nev's fine - I might actually get some breakfast now!" Theo chimed in, tucking in to the plate of French toast and eggs he'd piled in front of him.

"Classy, Theo. Real classy." Pansy sat next to him, shaking her head, pulling out her serviette and placing it demurely on her lap. "Shall we eat?"

At that, the crew all began eating their breakfast again with renewed enthusiasm.

* * *

Kate's parents had arranged portkeys to New York City for their shopping, even going as far as giving Kate a different credit card to make their purchases. Wow, Kate is the American, female Malfoy, Ginny thought, remembering how Draco's parents would send him anything he wished, even gifting the Slytherin team brand new racing brooms when he made the team his second year. Growing up with next to nothing, it was hard for Ginny not to be a little envious of the lifestyle these kids lived. Even Jake, who wasn't quite as wealthy as Kate seemed to be, was consistently showing up with new clothing, talking about the new part he'd just bought for his car, or offering to pay for supper when he took Sarah and her out into the city. It'd be nice if she didn't feel like it put her at some sort of disadvantage. I mean, Sarah's used to it, she's got money herself, so she doesn't even bat an eyelash. What do I even have to offer? she thought to herself. She vowed to herself right then that she wouldn't be taking any gifts, and she'd use the muggle money her parents had given her to pay for her own meal.

They were passing an upscale boutique on Fifth Avenue when Ginny found herself being pulled inside with some velocity, by not only Jake, but Sarah too.

"Oh my good Godric, Gin, you're going to love it here," Sarah gushed, heading directly for the shoe department which happened to have a large selection of matching accessories.

"Hold on there woman," Jake said, exerting his own considerable force in the opposite direction towards what was clearly a section that held many, many dresses as well as intimate apparel.

"Jake, Sarah…" Ginny tried to interrupt, but the two of them argued right over her, continuing to pull her in their respective directions. Yanking one of her hands free, Ginny put two fingers in her mouth and let loose and ear piercing whistle. "HEY!"she yelled, finally gaining their attention. "I'm not going anywhere in here." She grabbed a nearby garment - a beautiful green sheeth dress that she secretly coveted, and glanced at the price tag. "This place is way outside my budget."

"Budget?" Jake asked, genuinely confused. "Gin, you know I'd get you whatever you wanted…"

"What I want is to pay my own way. Excuse me," she said as she turned and made her way out of the store.

"What the hell was that about?" Jake wondered, raising a brow at Sarah.

"That, my boy, is a proud woman. She told me once that her family didn't have much - what with her being one of seven kids. It took a lot to get it out of her, and by a lot, I mean a lot of booze. I don't think she's all together comfortable with how filthy rich we all are - even Malfoy."

"Who cares if her family doesn't have money? I don't see what that has to do with going shopping…" Jake folded his arms, clearly perplexed at the idea and unable to grasp what Sarah was saying.

Sighing, she tried again. "Listen, Jake. Try and picture Ginny and I both being incredibly wealthy, and you not having two pennies to rub together. Then picture us walking into a store like this on Fifth Avenue and trying to buy you new clothes. How would that feel?"

Jake wrinkled his nose in disgust, and then realized the importance of what she was saying. "Oh, for fuck's sake. We're not buying her stuff because she can't, we're buying her stuff because we want to!" He said it vehemently, and with such male bravado that she couldn't help but fall in love with him a little bit.

"Well, we know that love, but have either of us said that to Ginny?"

"Not… to my knowledge," he admitted. "Fuck, we have to fix this Sarah. Go, see if you can stop her before she leaves all together. I have to do something." Sarah raised an eyebrow as she watched Jake pick up the dress and start walking towards the cash register.

"What?" he said, as he turned back and saw her lingering where he'd once stood. "I'm buying this for me, not her. I can't stop picturing her ass in this dress. Now go and find her before she ditches our asses here for good."

Giggling, Sarah ran out of the store, managing to grab Ginny's hand before she made a hasty exit down a nearby alley, presumably to try and apparate home.

"Ginny… Gin! Stop, babe… Stop!"

"Why, so you can dress me like a Sindy doll?" she spat, angry and embarrassed.

"Wait, what? What's a Sindy doll?" Sarah asked, completely perplexed. After looking at the nonplussed look on Ginny's face, she quickly hurried on. "Right, so not the time and the place. Look Gin, Jake and I don't buy you things because we don't think you can buy them yourself, we buy them for you because we like to spoil you, treat you. We… we…"

"We love you, you idiot," Jake said, stepping out from behind Sarah and handing Ginny a beautifully wrapped box with a big, obnoxious bow on it.

"You… you what!?" Ginny spluttered, taking the box with wide eyes. Sarah looked at Jake with the most beatific smile as she slung her arm around his waist, and clarified.

"We love you, Gin!"

"But, but… you can't love me!" she insisted, entirely flummoxed by this most recent turn of events. "We've only known each other for months, how could you - either of you - say that you love me? Let alone both of you at once, I mean really… how am I supposed to explain that I'm in love with two people, one of them a girl to my parents!? Oooooooh, my brothers are never going to let me live this down…" she ended with a groan.

"Hey Sarah, did you catch that? She said she loves us too…" Jake said with a grin, completely ignoring the rest of her rant. Sarah rolled her eyes and took a deep breath as she prepared to address her concerns; after all, she'd had many of the same thoughts, which is what made her and Ginny so close.

"Ginny, babe, breathe. I know it's soon, and it feels like it should be impossible, but… I think we can all agree that we haven't felt this… right, in a long time. It's not conventional, and some people won't understand it - but everyone here does!" she said, gesturing to all of their friends who were watching from far away. Jake was fervently nodding when Sarah said that they felt right. "I felt like a puzzle that was always missing a few pieces. I feel like I found them in you two…" he said quietly, hiding his face as a spectacular blush made it's way across his features.

"Well, that was the sweetest thing I've ever heard," Ginny said, sniffing. Grabbing the box from Jake, she tore off the ribbon and found the dress she'd been coveting back in that store; she promptly choked. "This is a $1000 dress Jake!?"

"So?"

"OK - if this is going to work, we're going to have to set some ground rules on how gift giving is going to go from now on…."

As the trio started debating the finer points of their relationship going forward, Kate decided that this was the perfect time to drag Harry, Hermione, and Draco off to their secret rendezvous with her tattoo artist. "Hey you guys, meet you at the restaurant at six OK? We've got places to go, and people to see," she said with a wink, waving over her shoulder as she dragged her friends around the corner of the building.

"Where are going?" demanded Harry, trying to pull his coat sleeve out of Kate's steely grasp.

"To visit Colin," she replied promptly, still holding his sleeve and pulling him through the busy pedestrian traffic that is a constant in downtown New York City.

"And Colin is…?" Draco drawled with a raised eyebrow, more intrigued than anxious about their little side trip as he hurried after Kate with a protective arm around Hermione.

"My tattoo artist," she said, looking both ways before darting out in traffic. Suddenly, horns were blaring and Draco swore loudly. Someone had bumped Hermione into the line of an oncoming cab; Draco had only managed to save her from becoming roadkill by the firm grip he had on the back of her jeans. He glared around, but the offender was gone, lost in the sea of people like a needle in a haystack.

Hermione, still gasping for air after the near miss, was busy apologizing. "Oh Gods, sorry Draco, I'm so sorry, I don't even know how that happened! It's so busy here, I must have walked into someone…"

"Hermione love, that person pushed you, whoever he was - I had my arm around you, I wouldn't have let you walk into someone…" he seethed.

"Draco, no one pushed me; it's busy out here! There's so many people around, it was an innocent mistake. Let it go," she finished as she could clearly see him searching through the crowd, hoping vainly for some sign of the offender in question.

Kate, after seeing Hermione was perfectly fine, began tapping her foot impatiently while checking her watch. "Yes, yes, Hermione is clumsy, and we're late!" she snapped, stomping her foot slightly.

"Yes, about that…" Hermione started with her eyes narrowed in Kate's direction. Harry, knowing just how dangerous it was to be on the other side of that particular expression, sidled up next to his girlfriend, put an arm around her shoulder and looked Hermione directly in the eye. Catching the move, Hermione reigned in her temper and did her best to speak calmly.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Kate, but did you not tell us that we would be meeting with your tattoo artist tomorrow while the group went skiing?"

Beginning to understand that Hermione wasn't keen on this particular surprise, Kate grinned sheepishly. "Well, yes, I did, but I did that just so you wouldn't spend so much time thinking about it! I was worried you two would back out…"

Draco had to laugh as he and Hermione had had a lengthy discussion the night previous about whether or not this tattoo thing was the best idea. Glaring at him, as she'd clearly been remembering the same conversation, Hermione crossed her arms obstinately and said, "Well, we don't have the drawings that we wanted, so we'll just have to reschedule."

"I have them!" Kate said excitedly, pulling an envelope from her handbag.

Hermione whipped around, staring unbelievingly at Draco. "You gave them to her?"

"He sure did!" Kate chimed in.

"I absolutely did not!" he said, taking his turn to shoot daggers with his eyes. "Kate asked me if we'd decided on our drawings, and I'd pointed to the envelope on my desk and told her that we had - did you steal those from my room?" He looked more intrigued than insulted at this point, when it became clear that Hermione was no longer feeling completely betrayed; well not by him at least.

"He might as well have given them to me - and yes I did!" she said grinning proudly.

"Well done. I can't even be mad…"

"Well, I can!" Hermione yelled, gesticulating so wildly that people passing by were giving her dirty looks as they darted around her flailing hands.

"Hermione, calm down! Trust me, this is the best case scenario. Stop over thinking it, you'll be fine, I promise."

At this point, Harry grabbed Kate's hand and began walking in the direction they had started in before Hermione's run in with the taxi, relying on Draco to sort it out.

"Love, why are you so upset by this? It's classic Kate…" he started, rubbing his hands up and down her arms, soothingly.

Hermione avoided his gaze and stared at the sidewalk. "I'm just… scared."

"Scared? Hermione Granger, brightest witch of our age, scared of a little magical ink?" Draco scoffed.

Seeing the game he was playing and having none of it, Hermione nodded.

"Granger, this is our chance. Our one chance to make something of these terrible reminders - to cleanse away the stink of our past, and put something on our bodies that we like looking at. As for the pain, I hardly think it could be anything worse than what gave you that scar to begin with, and you're still here to tell the tale so…"

Hermione looked up sharply at that and saw that he was being completely honest, trying to provide perspective, and not trying to make light of her suffering. "You can do this love, we both can."

Seeing her resolve, he grabbed her hand and smiled as they ran ahead to catch up to Harry and Kate.

* * *

The bells jingled overhead as they opened the door to what was a brightly lit, clean looking space with art covering almost every available surface. From what Hermione thought of as typical muggle tattoo designs, like 'I love mom' with a big red heart, thick, black tribal markings and baby cherubs, all the way to complex landscapes, portraits, and icons from popular movies and novels.

A man entered through a door from what Hermione assumed was a back room. She was surprised at this appearance. He wore a baseball cap, with a tight black shirt enhancing his muscled arms covered in his own artwork. "Ah, Kate. You're late," he greeted, obviously teasing as his eyes were as bright as his smile.

"You can thank these two for that," she said, gesturing behind her at Hermione and Draco.

Meeting their gazes he motioned for them all to follow him. "Well, let's take this party to a place where the muggles can't get us down."

They retreated through the same door Colin had come from, and down the hallway. There were multiple doors, and Colin led them through a door on the left. Hermione was surprised at how comfortable the room was; she had expected a sterile room with a stiff chair and a table full of gruesome looking instruments, but instead was greeted with plush chairs, antique furniture and an eclectic collection of artwork. Designs still littered the walls like the lobby, but these were different. She noticed shapes of Runes, and star constellations. She giggled at a Hippogriff and then laughed full out as she looked at Harry, remembering what Ginny said about the girls of Hogwarts wondering about him having one on his chest during the TriWizard Tournament.

"Take a seat guys. Kate mentioned you two have some scars that you would like to magically enhance?"

"Mine's a scar," Hermione hedged, trading anxious glances with Draco; revealing this much about what had gone on during the war was counterintuitive and uncomfortable.

"Mine's not," Draco snapped, edgy at the thought of having to explain.

"Why don't you show me what you've got going on and we can talk it through. You don't have to tell me what's behind them if you don't want to guys - it's your ink, I'm just here to bring your vision to life…" Colin said calmly, his expression completely neutral and open.

Kate handed over the envelope of the designs that Hermione and Draco had picked out, and then gestured for them to take the glamour off of their arms. "Go ahead, you two. Don't be shy; Colin is the best at what he does."

Sighing, Hermione rolled up her sleeve and reached for her wand. Draco was quicker though, grabbing her hand before she could reach it and held her wrist. She looked up, confused, but understood when he took his own wand over her forearm and removed her glamour himself. He ran his fingers gently over her scar, giving her the assurance that the word engraved there did not define her.

She met his eyes, reaching for his arm. Unbuttoning his cuff, she rolled his sleeve up past his elbow slowly, one fold at a time and gently placed the tip of her wand on his forearm. When the lightened skull and snake appeared on his skin, she bent down and placed her lips on it before straightening up and staring into Draco's eyes.

"Ok, you two. Enough with this lovey dovey shit, let's get this started," Kate offered, but lightly enough that they looked at her with smiles.

Colin took a look at both of their arms, his expression inscrutable. Finally, he looked up at Hermione with empathy gleaming in his eyes - empathy, but not pity, she noticed.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," he said simply.

"Me too," she replied with a sad smile.

"Was it a blade? Was it cursed?"

"Yes, on both counts."

"OK - that can make things tricky, but looking at your design, I think I can hide the lettering in here," he said pointing down at her drawing.

She'd chosen a phoenix, predominantly gold, with burnt orange accents, but with tail feathers in the house colors; blue and bronze for Ravenclaw, red for Gryffindor, green and silver for Slytherin and yellow and a charcoal grey for Hufflepuff. It was a big piece, with the tail stopping just shy of the crease of her elbow, and the mouth resting at the beginning of her wrist.

"The lettering should be fairly easily interwoven in the feathers of the phoenix's belly - I'll work my magic there," he said with a wink.

Incredibly at ease somehow, despite what felt like the insane thing she was about to do, her whole body began to relax as Colin turned to Draco.

Draco's whole body position spoke of defense; his shoulders were square, his feet were planted shoulder width apart and his chin jutted ever so slightly in the air, daring someone to say something, do something. Colin simply held out his hand and waited. He looked Draco straight in the eye, his own completely free of judgement, or sympathy; he just waited. Watching the scene carefully and with great trepidation, Hermione couldn't help but be awed by the slow and subtle transformation that occurred in front of her. It seemed like, muscle by muscle, Draco released his tension. It was like watching him put down his guilt, one muscle fiber at a time, until finally, he put his arm in Colin's hand, palm up.

Colin examined the Dark Mark closely, turning it this way, and that, running his fingers over the skin. Finally, after much longer than it had taken him to examine Hermione's, he let Draco have his arm back. Sitting up straight, again, he looked Draco straight in the eye and said, "I'm sorry this happened to you."

Draco took a long, deep breath, a pained expression on his face. Hermione put her hand on his shoulder as he made to turn away.

"Do not mistake me; I know that you believe that you volunteered for this mark, that you asked for it."

"I did ask for it, I fucking begged them for it," Draco spat, his voice thick with self contempt.

"Did you ask for it for your own benefit? For money, for greed, for power? Did you ask for it for fun?"

Draco looked up sharply at his last question, but when he saw Colin's thoughtful expression, he took a long moment to ponder that question, and let the answer flow straight from his heart.

"I asked for it because I believed it was the only way to save the people I loved most. I believed it would be OK because it also came with power. I never thought that what came with it would be fun," he said, spitting the last word like it tasted foul on his tongue.

"And that, my friend, makes all the difference. This mark isn't meant to be covered, but it also isn't meant to be worn by someone who doesn't truly stand behind what it means, what it stands for. The fact that you only took the mark to save those you love, the very antithesis of this mark, will make it easier to cover. Rest easy, and let me see what you've chosen to replace it."

Kate passed Colin the drawing that Draco had chosen, and Colin's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

"Where did you get this?"

"I… I found it, in an old book in the library at school, why?"

"Do you know what this symbol stands for?"

"Vaguely. I couldn't find any two books that defined it, or drew it the same way. This is a combination of two, or three of them with a few… alterations, to suit my preferences."

"Why, what is it?" Kate asked, intrigued. In all the time she'd known Colin, she'd never seen him show that much surprise when someone handed him a tattoo design.

"It's called a tetramorph, and it's been used for centuries as a fairly universal symbol of redemption," he started quietly, examining the drawing Kate had handed to him. "Did you draw this yourself?" he asked Draco.

"Err… yeah," he said, flushing slightly as everyone's mouths dropped open. "I draw a little, it's nothing but a hobby…"

"Hobby my ass," Kate snorted, looking over Colin's shoulder. "You've got some serious talent there Draco!"

Shrugging his shoulders and looking uncomfortable, he tried to look around the room until someone changed the subject. Thankfully, Colin wasn't quite done with his explanation of what made Draco's tattoo design choice so unique.

"The tetramorph was traditionally used to represent the four elements as one - four disparate characteristics as one unit. The Christians, in the muggle world, used it to represent the four evangelists - four incredibly different men, as one unit, under their God."

Not seeing where this was going, Draco was getting uncomfortable. "Look, I appreciate the history lesson, but I don't see what this has to do with me, or why my artistic license is so intriguing…"

"Shut up, and I'll tell you," Colin said simply. Suitably silenced, Draco motioned for him to continue.

"The four elements are traditionally given an animal symbol; the animals chosen meant to represent the culture, or in this case the person wearing the symbol. You've chosen a man, the ultimate animal and the symbol for human nature; a bull, the symbol of sacrifice, and redemption; an eagle, the symbol of rising above, or ascension and finally, a lion, the symbol for pride, but also integrity."

The room was quiet, as they looked at Draco. He'd done some research about which animals he'd like to include in his tetramorph, but hadn't considered what story they would tell together. He looked over at Harry who had a wide smile on his face, and then saw Hermione who had tears in her eyes.

"What?" he said uncomfortably, chafing under the scrutiny of his friends.

"Oh nothing," Harry said nonchalantly. "Just that you couldn't have picked four animals that tell your story more completely and more honestly than those ones…"

"Shut it, Potter. I'm pretty sure you'd be the first person to argue that I have any measure of integrity…"

Harry sobered at Draco's remark and the vehemence behind it. He walked up to Draco, forcing him to look him square in the eye before he spoke to him. "Draco, it takes integrity to volunteer for unprecedented peril to save your family. It takes integrity to stand by your own moral code in the midst of what was going on in your own home. It took integrity not to turn me over to your aunt the second you laid eyes upon me that night in your drawing room. I have never once, since this all ended, doubted your integrity, so cut it out," he finished, his expression grave and slightly foreboding.

Incredibly humbled, and rife with emotion, Draco didn't think he could speak, so he nodded his head briefly.

"Well, now that all this machismo, and meaning is over with, can we get this party started?" Kate cut in with some acerbity.

Colin, more than familiar with Kate's impatience, did nothing but chuckle. "Of course babe, let's get the kiddies prepped and ready."

Hermione was not expecting the process of the actual tattoo to be so quick, and even more shocked that it didn't hurt at all. Colin really was the best at his job. The artistry was his true passion, but the mixing of potions with ink, and casting the complicated charm was the learned profession. When she was done, Hermione examined the phoenix as it preened its feathers, watching it shimmer slightly, when suddenly she gasped as it fanned its tail feathers. It left a slight tingling sensation that reminded her of when Draco kissed her with five o'clock shadow and she couldn't help but smile. Grabbing her wand, she realized that Colin had placed the bird in such a way that when she held her wand, the bird would reach out it's beak and it landed just at the base of her wand. Like Kate's tattoo, Hermione's was only visible to those whom she wanted it to be visible to - and because the scar tissue had been tattooed, it was invisible as well. Still looking at her arm, she didn't notice Draco as he came up behind her until his newly tattooed arm snaked around her waist. She looked down to see his new piece and smiled when he lined it up next to hers and her phoenix reached out like it wanted to nuzzle his arm next to hers. He didn't say anything, but the way he held his shoulders, and held her waist as they walked from the tattoo parlor, waving gratefully to Colin as they left, you could tell a weight had been lifted, a door had been shut on their past, and a new future lay before them.


	18. Speeding Cars

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N** : Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and follows!

* * *

 **~Chapter 18 - Speeding Cars~**

After meeting back up with the group and stashing their purchases inside the girls ever expanding purses - thanks to Hermione helping each of them with the extension charm, they headed towards a restaurant to have dinner before their portkey back to Kate's. Once dinner was finished, and the bill was paid - Kate and Draco having an incredibly entertaining disagreement about who would take care of it - they made their way to a dark alley, standing in a circle around the handkerchief portkey.

Landing in Kate's backyard they all broke apart heading their own ways. Harry, Kate, Hermione and Draco headed into the house to put their purchases up. Ginny, Sarah, and Jake headed towards the hot tub.

Jess grabbed tight to Neville's hand, holding him in place while they watched the others arrive, chatting animatedly and then moving off presumably towards the fire pit on the other side of the house. "Nev, we need to talk," she said looking up and watching as his expression hardened, and then went blank.

"I can't talk about it Jess - I won't," he said, tight lipped and frank.

" _Won't_?" she whispered, like it was a dirty word. "Well if you _won't_ talk to me, then I _won't_ share my bed with you. Find somewhere else to sleep."

She'd said it calmly, but with such conviction he didn't doubt her for a minute. _Why can't she understand how difficult this is for me_? he thought to himself. He couldn't quite shake the feeling of guilt over the whole debacle though, and moved to follow her, to try and explain.

Pansy noted Neville chasing Jess away from the fire, and took the opportunity to escape from Ben's prying eyes. "I'm exhausted from today's shopping. Take me to bed Theo."

Theo noticed a hitch in her voice that he knew had gone unnoticed, and nodded while standing, offering his hand to pull her from her seat. They waved at the others and disappeared towards the house. They walked slowly, not speaking but enjoying the crisp air. When they reached the back porch Pansy stopped and turned into Theo wrapping her arms around his middle. "What is it Pans?"

"Theo, we need to talk about what happened with Ben," she stated, bluntly.

Not surprised at all with her statement he pulled her inside and found the study empty. He pointed his wand at the fire grate bringing it roaring to life, and pulled her into his lap as he sat in the chair nearest the flames.

"Say what you need to say Pans…" he said kindly, but with a slight quiver that belied how afraid he was of just what it was that she was holding back. Pansy, as attuned to him as he was to her, caught it and examined him closely. Coming to some sort of decisions, she pulled back so she could look him straight in the eye and asked the question that had been plaguing her mind.

"Do you like him better than me?"

"What?!" he said, genuinely startled by the question. At this, Pansy's chin jutted out and her pride refused to allow her to repeat herself.

"You heard me…"

"Pansy… it's, it's not the same!" Theo stuttered, trying to get a grasp on his thought and his feelings. He'd never thought that she'd be feeling insecure about things - he'd thought she was going to dump him because he was into guys. _Though, I don't exactly know if I'm 'into' guys, now do I?_ he thought frantically, shaking his head to stay on track.

Hearing all that she needed to hear, Pansy started to climb out of Theo's lap, moving quickly, with great force, trying to escape.

"Pansy, dammit! PANSY. Stop. You can't drop this in my lap and then not give me the chance to explain. This wasn't exactly in my playbook either, you know?"

Realizing that this was in fact true, and had to be hard for him, she settled for sitting next to him on the couch and tried, so hard, to let him explain.

"I… I'd never considered actually _dating_ men before Ben had confessed he found me attractive. You know how it was growing up - Purebloods married Purebloods and made Pureblood babies. Bit tough to do with a bloke, yeah?"

Pansy nodded, catching the faraway look, and the way he rubbed the scar that she knew was on the back of his neck - the one that he received at the other end of a belt yielded by his bastard father. _Indeed_ , she thought, _I know exactly how it was._

"So there was Ben, saying that he wouldn't be sad to catch me starkers, and it just got me thinking, OK? He's a great guy, and I can appreciate the male form, but… then there's you," he finished lamely, shrugging. Noticing the look on her face he realized that this was not a good way to try and end that particular thought process.

" _You_ , Pans. We've been together since Hogwarts and we're… good together, I think?" he asked, looking through the corner of his eye, to see her nod slowly.

"You're my best friend Pansy, the person who knows all of my shit and… well, you love me anyway."

"Just because I love you, doesn't mean you love me," she whispered, finally voicing her main concern.

Aware that they were crossing a line here, Theo took a second to marshal his thoughts. _I don't know if I know what love is! If I say it to her, she'll be mollified, but what if I'm wrong? I can't hurt her. Bugger all, no matter what I say, I'm going to hurt her. Merlin help me!_

The fear was written all over his face, and Pansy knew she had to get out of there. She tore her hand out of Theo's' frantic grasp and ran.

* * *

The group gathered around the huge dining room table the following morning, quietly tucking into a similar breakfast to the day before. The tension in the room was palpable and seemed to center around Pansy and Theo, as well as Jess and Neville. As a result, the other couples seemed to be holding on to each other just a little tighter, insulating themselves in their own bubbles of peace, unwilling to let the frisson of discord settle anywhere near them.

Trying to lighten the mood, Kate once again stood and looked at Harry before she cleared her throat like a congested, three hundred pound man. At the noise, everyone looked up, startled, and then a sprinkle of laughter broke out when they realized the horrendously inelegant sound had come from Kate.

"Well, I could hardly start things off the way I did last time, now could I?" she said with a sniff.

"Look, I think we all know that there's something going on between you guys," she said, pausing to look at the offending couples. "It's none of our business, so I won't say anything about it, but I will NOT let it ruin this vacation. As such, I've arranged for a camping trip..."

As she finished this particular thought, Chris and Ben audibly groaned. Jake chuckled at his friends reticence, but wisely covered it with a cough before he was on the receiving end of the particularly nasty glare Kate was shooting at her friends.

"Unlike _last time_..."

"Do I want to know what happened last time?" Harry whispered to Jake, as Kate began describing the plan for taking the RV to another magical time share her parents were apart of here in Aspen.

Chuckling, Jake leaned close to Harry and whispered the story. "So, Kate had managed to convince us to go camping. _Muggle_ camping. The thing was, she'd never done it before and had zero knowledge of the specifics, so... long story short? Sarah, Kate, Jess, Chris, Ben and I in a two person muggle tent with no extension charm, on what turned out to be one of the hottest days on record."

Harry started to laugh in earnest before a well timed elbow to the ribs had him employing Jake's tried, tested and true tactic of turning it into a cough under Kate's gimlet eye.

"Now, we'll need to be driving there, so my parents have given us full access to the motor pool."

"Motor pool?" Draco asked, unsure as to why Ben, Chris, and Jake had all started salivating like they'd been given a particularly tasty meal, or a particularly beautiful woman.

"Follow me," she said, leaving them to follow in her wake.

She marched out the front doors and took a sharp left towards what looked like, a large barn.

When they got there, however, they saw that it was a state of the art, temperature controlled storage area for some of the most beautiful machines Draco had ever seen. He was immediately taken by a sleek, silver thing, low to the ground and absolutely feral looking. He ran his hands along the side of the car, ducking his head through the already open window to check out the interior.

"This one," he demanded, not even caring if he sounded like a spoiled child. He wanted to drive this car and he wanted to do it now.

"Easy there tiger," Kate said, coming up behind him. "Are you sure you're ready for that much power and steel?"

Raising an eyebrow at her he simply said, "Absolutely."

"Alright, well no offence to Hermione, but I'll be the one teaching you how to drive. You _will_ listen to me, or the driving lesson ends ok? I have no desire to die in a fiery ball of glory."

"Me either!" Draco said with alacrity, willing to do almost anything if it meant he got to drive it.

"Mhhhmmmmm…" Kate agreed, but with a look of extreme skepticism. "Chris!" she shouted suddenly, making the boy in question jump out of his skin.

He looked over his shoulder at her with a sheepish grin on his face, bringing his hands together in front of him in a gesture of complete supplication. "Pleaaaaase, Kate? I'm begging. Don't make me kiss the ground you walk on…"

Kate pondered his request for a solid two minutes, during which Chris proceeded to prostrate himself at her feet in the most splendid display of grovelling they'd ever seen. Finally, laughing hysterically Kate said, "OK Chris…. Just this once, you can drive the Ducati."

Neville's jaw hit the floor as he watched Chris pull the cover off of the singularly most beautiful motorcycle he'd ever seen. He tried to master his jealousy, but it must have been written all over his face because Kate was doubled over laughing at him. Wiping tears from her eyes, she pointed behind the pillar Neville was standing next to, and said "All yours Nev!"

Neville walked over slowly, as he pulled off the matching cover and stared at the red motorcyle match to Chris' black one, petting the sleek metal with reverence. "Really? Swear down I can ride it? Don't mess with me Kate, I don't think I could take it…"

Catching Jess' smirk, she tried to catch her eye, but when she did, Jess turned quickly and walked to stand next to Sarah, Jake, and Ginny who were all admiring an American muscle car in deep green.

"Yes Neville, I promise. But if you break it, you bought it…"

"If I break it, I might just avada myself... if I don't die in the wreck that is."

With Chris and Neville squared away with their pieces of mechanical pride, that left the rest of the group trying to pair off in such a way that didn't leave anyone feeling awkward, which was quite the task given the evident strain between Theo, Pansy, and Ben - the latter of whom just looked confused, and Neville and Jess. In the end, Jess and Pansy decided to tag along with Kate and Draco, while Hermione chose a cute, little, blue coupe and would take Harry, Theo and Sarah, leaving Jake to drive Ginny and Ben.

Draco got behind the wheel and gripped the steering wheel, trying to listen carefully as Kate explained how a manual transmission engine worked. Interrupting her detailed explanation of gears, and the clutch mechanism, he demanded she get out and show him how it's done with the door open, so he could see her feet. Surprised at his idea, she dutifully complied making several small circles in the paddock outside of the barn that housed the carpool. Chris, Ben, and Jake were all shouting critiques of Kate's shifting technique, to which she launched scathing replies, but Draco's eyes never left her feet. Finally, after three, or four circuits, Draco demanded Kate let him drive to their location.

"Draco, you can't possibly think you're ready to drive this thing all the way there, let alone race with these hooligans," she said, gesturing over her shoulder with her chin toward Chris and Neville who were now completely engaged in the most foul trash talking she'd heard in a very long time.

"You're bloody right I can," he said, slipping behind the wheel before she could say a thing. Shrugging her shoulders with a smug grin on her face, she motioned for Jess and Pansy to get in, and for the rest of them to go to their vehicles of choice.

Draco only stalled once, as he was exiting the paddock, and then, he was driving like a seasoned pro, if a cautious one, through the small town they had to go through before they hit the open road. Jake knew the terrain, having been there multiple times with Kate and her family, so he stopped at the empty crossroads, with Chris and Neville lined up beside him.

"So, what, we just go full on until the end of the road?" Draco asked, intrigued by the idea of a race.

"I'm not sure you're ready for this Draco…" Kate said, uneasy about the prospect of trusting a new driver to handle the piece of machinery in a way that wouldn't get her killed in a fiery, twisted ball of metal.

"I am."

"Godric help me, fine. Hey Jake!" she said, yelling and motioning for him to roll down his window.

"What's cookin', good lookin'?"

"Draco fancies himself the new Evil Knievel and would like to challenge you ladies to a race," she said, the laughter evident in her voice as well as her eyes.

"Really now, this could get interesting…" He turned and relayed the information to Chris and Neville. Chris looked totally jazzed, and slapped a concerned looking Neville on the back, putting on his helmet and whooping with laughter. Neville, after taking a look at Jess through the window of Draco's car, nodded once and began checking the motorcycle and his rash guards before putting on his helmet. Hermione was looking a bit put out, having been reminded that Kate could only teach one of them how to race at a time, and that since now was Draco's turn, she'd have to sit this one out.

Teeth grinding with impatience, Draco revved the engine, a mechanical demand to get on with the show. Hermione gave him a stern look that clearly said that if he hurt himself, she'd hurt him worse - it made him smile, but he wasn't going to change his mind. She flicked her wrist, and the magical equivalent of a muggle stop light appeared.

"When that turns green," Kate said, pointing at the stop light, "Gun it."

"Gun it?" Draco asked, perplexed.

"Go. _Fast_."

"Too right."

Red. Yellow. _Green_.

Draco slammed his foot on the gas at the exact moment he released the clutch and the car jumped forward, the gears perfectly aligned. He shifted from first, to second, to third, on and on, faster than Kate would have ever dreamed possible. Given the fact that the Ducati's should be unbeatable, the idea that Draco was giving them a run for their money was absolutely astonishing. All the while, Kate was watching Draco - the grim determination on his face, alongside the smug smile of a man who is doing something well and knows it… Well, let's just say she could see what Hermione saw in him. They were coming up on the finish line and it looked like Draco was going to take it. He crossed the line with nothing but a smile; no gloating, or whooping in self congratulations, just pure, unadulterated bliss. Kate had a moment of satisfaction at a job well done, teaching the man how to drive before everything changed.

Draco tapped the breaks, trying to slow down from their incredible speed gently, when the look on his face went incredibly bleak. Keeping a tight grip on the wheel, he tried again. Nothing.

"Kate?" he asked, risking a quick look to his teacher, wondering if this was par for the course.

"What's happening Draco, what does it feel like?"

"I don't fucking know, it won't stop!" he snapped, clearly trying to keep calm.

"Draco, breathe. Tell me what it _feels_ like."

"It feels like… I'm… stepping on a sponge. It's airy, like the pedal will just keep going if I keep pressing it."

"Fuck."

"Fuck? _FUCK?_ Kate, you're going to have to do way bloody better than that, we're coming up on another intersection. A _busy intersection_."

This conclusion was met with complete and utter silence, as Kate tried to think. _We'll slow down over time, but there's not enough road to risk it going this fast. How can I stop this car without any goddamn brakes!?"_ she thought frantically, slapping her hand down on the console. It was then that her hand touched the emergency brake. It was risky; popping the e-brake could put them into an uncontrolled slide with a rookie behind the wheel, but she wasn't seeing any other option.

Before Kate pulled the e-brake, she saw something out of her peripheral vision - Neville. She rolled down the window and yelled, "There's no brakes!"

As she was about to pull the emergency break, Neville motioned her to stop, slipped up the visor on his helmet, managing the motorcycle effortlessly with his legs and one hand as he yelled back, "Prepare for an impact!"

Wanting to argue, but knowing they had no time, Kate told the others to brace themselves. She made Draco keep his arms out of the way of the airbags, and did her best to relax.

" _Aresto Momentum!"_

The car stopped suddenly, almost like it had hit a brick wall. The occupants of the car were flung forwards, but felt like they were enveloped in a giant down pillow. _Cushioning charm_ , Kate thought, eternally grateful for Neville Longbottom, and magic, in that moment.

Sore and stiff, Kate, Draco, Pansy and Jess exited the car. Jess promptly vomited on the side of the road, unable to handle the combination of motion sickness and adrenaline from being in the back seat. Neville walked over to her and rubbed her back as she wretched and cried.

Hermione came running from the car that she had carefully parked at the side of the road and collided painfully with Draco, kissing his face and murmuring, "I'm so glad you're alright," over and over again.

Ben and Theo had both flanked Pansy, each with a hand on her shoulder, gazing soulfully into her face and asking if she was OK. She looked relieved to have them both there; it looked like that threesome might just be OK afterall.

Everyone else just sat around completely shocked, unable to put into words the danger that they had faced that day.

"What the fuck happened?" Kate said, still hugging Harry.

"I have no idea," Draco said, still trying to calm Hermione.

Jake, who'd taken the opportunity to lie on his back under the car and take a look, came out from underneath it, a grim look on his face.

"The brake lines were cut," he said tersely, pissed off that something like this could have happened.

" _What!?_ " Kate screeched, completely appalled. "My dad checks those cars regularly, he has staff that are responsible for their maintenance. How could this even have happened? Was it magic?"

"I don't think so," Jake said, rubbing his greasy hands on his jeans. "I ran a diagnostic spell and it detected no traces of magic. Plus, there are fray marks on the brake lines. It looks like they were cut. With a knife."

"We need to call my dad," Kate said, looking sick at the idea of explaining this all to her dad.

Minutes later, Mr. and Mrs. Mills were there, having apparated to the well known intersection, Mrs. Mills taking it in turn to hug each one of the kids and make sure that they were alright, while Mr. Mills started demanding answers.

"Daddy, how could this have happened?" Kate asked once they had relayed the story, her voice small like she was a child of seven years old instead of seventeen.

Mr. Mills paused as he silently communicated with his wife, who was evidently in favor of him telling the truth.

"Well darling, I didn't make any friends with that Rosenthal deal that I made last month. In fact, one of the parties on the other side was quite irritated, and lost a lot of money. He's showed up on our property a couple of times in the last week, so it wouldn't surprise me if he thought to get back at me. That's the car I typically drive to muggle business meetings, as it tends to impress…" he said, smiling slightly at the, " _No shit_ ," Jake had let slip before he was silenced by his daughters dirty look.

Completely unsettled, Kate went to give her dad a hug, not willing to contemplate what might have happened had he been driving that car to work, or with his mother on a date.

"Will you report him?"

"No, baby," Mr. Mills said, a look of empathy and compassion on his face, completely unaware of the look of unbridled rage on his wife's. "I understand that you're angry, and this could have been completely bad, but this man has lost enough without losing his freedom."

"You're goddamn right we're reporting him!" Mrs. Mills said quietly, enraged.

"Dear?" Mr. Mills said, turning to his wife and finally registering the dark look on her face and the slight tremble she'd developed.

"I don't give a flying _fuck_ what that man thinks he's lost," she began, pointing her finger at his chest, and stepping towards him until she made contact. "He nearly _killed_ our daughter, Andrew," she seethed, completely incensed that he could possibly make light of the situation.

"He cut the brake lines on a car that any of us could have been driving. He may have thought it'd be you, but he had a complete disregard for not only your life, but mine and your daughters. And you're going to do _nothing_?" she spat, her voice icy and forbidding.

"Ivana, baby, no…" he pleaded, realizing that what he had said had come across as acquiescence to his wife.

"We _will_ be telling the muggle authorities about this," she said quietly, staring at her husband and daring him to argue.

"I'm not willing to press charges, but I will tell them about it, and that's final," he said, not wanting to discuss it further.

"We'll see about that," Mrs. Mills snapped, storming back to her car, but not before she gave Kate a hard hug, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, and whispering something in her ear.

Sighing, Kate's dad did what he could to make the best out of a bad situation. "Kate, my darling girl, take your friends out to the time share. Tom here brought you one of the other vehicles; I'll apparate him back to the house, so you needn't worry about that. Go, have a good time," he finished, giving her a reassuring hug.

Turning to her friends, Kate gave them a reassuring smile and climbed behind the wheel of the car. Draco moved to get in the front seat, but couldn't seem to detach himself from Hermione, and so he climbed into the back where they could sit together. Seizing the opportunity to put some distance between her and Neville after the roadside sickness incident, Jess climbed into the front seat of their car. Neville hadn't missed a beat at Jess' hasty departure, and turned to collect his motorcycle, flipping down his visor with a little bit more vigor than was required.

Chris, after making sure that Pansy and Jess were alright, collected his motorcycle and moved to stand with Neville, checking over both of the bikes to make sure that everything was copacetic. Not wanting to separate, Theo, Pansy and Ben squished into the car that Hermione had been driving with Harry; Ben taking the wheel and trying not to glance in the rearview mirror to the back where Theo and Pansy had evidently made up. This arrangement could not have been more OK by the other triad, as Ginny sat in the back seat of Jake's car with an arm on both Jake and Sarah's shoulders, who sat in the front seat.

"Alright, let's go camping…?" Kate said, with forced brevity. No one bought it, but they moved on toward their destination, determined to focus on the fact that they were all alive and well.

For now.


	19. Accidental Anarchy

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N:** We want to let our loyal readers know that we may be taking a bit longer to update, but we are still here and have no intentions of abandoning this story! **ErisAceso** has rocked this chapter out and put her soul on the page! We'll be back in a couple of weeks with a new update! xoxo

* * *

 **~ Chapter 19 - Accidental Anarchy~ **

By the time they crossed all of the anti muggle wards, and got to the actual campsite, the crew was too tired to do anything but set up their charmed tents and start making supper. Kate insisted they do things the muggle way, so there they were making what she called 'spider wieners' on sticks around the campfire.

"And then you just… eat it?" Theo asked, goggling at the piece of meat that was sizzling in the fire, the 'legs' of the spider starting to curl.

Pulling his off the stick, Jake said, "Yep!" before taking a bite with relish.

"Interesting," Draco said, a slight moue of distaste written on his features.

"Oh, come now Draco," Hermione said, bumping his shoulder with her own. "It'll be fun! Try something new, _live a little_!"

The emphasis on the last part reminded him of their near accident and just how happy he was to _be_ alive at that particular moment, so he decided to take her advice to heart.

The boys had a hot dog eating contest, to see who could eat the most. Chris, surprising everyone, managed to out eat Harry by half a hot dog to the general applause of the group. He rose to take a bow, and promptly vomited in the bushes - but still insisted that he had won, fair and square.

Energy restored, general hijinx broke out around the fire, until someone spotted a magical game of laser tag being played by other wizarding kids camping in the campground. It involved a sensor charm that flashed when hit with a modified Lumos spell that allowed people to point and shoot a beam of light at their prey. When their sensor charm flashed, they were out. After a few moments of spell mastering, most of which Hermione basically led despite having just learned the spell herself - _naturally_ , Draco thought to himself - they were off.

As a team, they launched out trying to take down the red and green teams, denoted by the small red, or green light that sat in the center of their chest; the WAM group was the blue team. Not surprisingly, the Hogwarts kids proved to be excellent at logistics and had made quick work of the red team, with only one member left. Kate, Jess, and Sarah were all trading astonished looks at just how well Neville, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Draco and Theo worked together - anticipating each other's movements, their heads on swivels, unconsciously flanking each other so that no one's back was left unguarded.

"That's a bit scary, isn't it?" Sarah asked, staring after Ginny as she effortlessly picked a player out of the tree line and tagged them from fifty yards away.

"You have _no idea_ ," Pansy said, sneaking out of the bushes behind the girls.

Stifling a scream, Kate whirled on her heel and slapped Pansy on the arm. "Don't _do_ that!" she hissed, trying to control her racing heartbeat.

"Where the _fuck_ did you learn to sneak up on people like that? Those aren't hide and go seek skills Pansy…" Jess asked, narrowing her eyes at the Slytherin.

"Let's just say my days at school were a little more… adventure filled than yours," she said, directing the girls to spread out so that they wouldn't be caught, before going off in Theo's direction.

The green team was composed of older and more experienced players, so they were proving difficult. Ben and Chris had been ambushed and taken out of the game at the same time, followed shortly by Theo and Pansy, who'd been caught having make-up sex behind a row of trees. Kate and Harry were taken out just after that, leaving Jake, Sarah, Ginny, Hermione, Draco, Neville and Jess still in the game. After a brief huddle, the team had split into three, planning to employ Neville's, frankly terrifying, three pronged strategy for surrounding and taking out the green team.

Draco and Hermione were ducked behind an outcropping of rocks, when they heard fast, heavy footfalls coming their way. Freezing, to see if the newcomer would pass them by, they were startled when a large body came flying across them yelling, "DOWN!" as it tumbled into the grass.

"What the… bloody hell! _Longbottom?_ " Draco murmured, rushing to his side. He was unconscious, and had quite the goose egg on his head from the fall.

"Neville? _Neville!_ " Hermione shouted, shaking him roughly, all to no avail. Jess had come running when she heard Hermione scream and came to a stop, crouching at Neville's side. Fear and anger had Jess shaking as they tried to revive him - she even went so far as to slap him. Nothing.

"Did anyone see what happened?" Harry asked, starting to get legitimately concerned.

"I… We… We heard him coming before we saw him. He was running and he shouted at us to get down. Why would he…" she trailed off, the wheels in her mind turning. Her mouth then set in a grim line as she held her wand tightly and murmured, " _Renervate!_ "

Neville immediately began to stir. "What… what happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us that, mate!" Harry said with a chuckle, holding the edge of his shirt to Neville's bleeding skull.

"I… I saw someone fire at you, but the light… the light was red, not white. I didn't know what it was, but I knew it wasn't part of the game," he explained, holding his head with a grimace.

"Red light?" Jess said quietly, looking at him aghast.

"Yeah, I know," he said, mistaking her expression for one of concern for his friends. "I couldn't just let it hit them, it could have been anything. Glad it was just a stunner though," he said, looking relieved.

The cicadas that are native to Aspen seemed particularly loud in that moment, as everyone traded skeptical looks, trying not to make eye contact with Jess, or Neville.

"Couldn't have let it… _Are you kidding me!?_ " Jess yelled, at the end of her rope.

"What?" Neville asked, looking around at his friends, his eyes asking them to explain where he'd gone wrong.

"Neville, we're in the middle of a fucking campground in Aspen, Colorado. Who in Godric's name would be looking to hurt someone in a game of fucking _laser tag!?_ "

"I… uhh… well, I don't know. I didn't exactly think about it, I just… reacted."

"That's just it! You don't _think_. You've got a fucking savior complex and I'm sick of it! You won't even tell me _why_ …"

At this, the group started getting incredibly awkward, feeling like they were intruding on what should be a private conversation, but none of the group feeling more awkward than the Hogwarts kids who all knew exactly why Neville had done what he'd done.

"I… Jess, you knew this about me from the get go. I mean, think about how we met! Blimey, you'd think I'd have gone and murdered someone with how angry you are at _me_. Be angry at the person who shot the stunner, yeah?" Neville responded, starting to get angry.

"Neville, mate…" Theo started, putting his hand on his shoulder. "It's a game of laser tag - whoever it was probably just got the spell wrong, it's easy enough to do. Remember when I nearly shot off Granger's arse during the practice round?"

"I bloody well do," Draco muttered, shooting Theo a dirty look.

Neville shrugged his shoulder, the way he did when he's uncomfortable. Looking over to where Sarah and Ginny were comforting Jess, he felt his anger swell once more. "Look, I saw something potentially harmful happening to my friends and I reacted. I won't be sorry for it," he said, squaring his shoulders.

"You think I'm mad that you protected your friends?" Jess said, shaking her head sadly. "Do you even know me at all?" she whispered, before turning and walking back to their camp site.

Confused, hurt, and still a little angry, Neville had started to shake. Noticing the signs of bottled up emotion and too much adrenaline, Draco pushed him lightly towards their camp site. "C'mon Longbottom, let's go back to the fire and get you a drink."

When they got back, Jess was nowhere to be seen, presumably in her tent for the night. Neville still looked sour, but once the Firewhiskey started making the rounds, his shoulders relaxed and he began to smile.

Hermione motioned to Harry, asking him to take a walk with her. After telling Kate where he was off to, he nodded and they began making a small circuit of their camp site.

"Nevile's post-war hang ups are starting to show Harry," Hermione worried, wringing her hands as she walked.

"I know, but can we really blame him?"

"Of course I don't _blame_ him, but how are we supposed to go on pretending like it's nothing? Jess _knows_ something isn't right with him Harry, and she's starting to take a closer look at all of us, especially Draco."

"Let her look Hermione," Harry said gently, eyes forward and unfocused as he examined something in his own mind.

"What?" she asked, incredulous at how well he seemed to be taking the whole thing.

"We have nothing to be ashamed of Hermione, and we made friends with all of these people _without_ them knowing who we are. We _know_ they like us for who we are, and not what we did. I'm not sure we should be hiding from them any more. God knows, I hate hiding from Kate. I feel like I'm lying to her…"

"Harry, you've done nothing of the sort," Hermione interjected on his behalf, stunned that he would think of it that way.

"I haven't _actively_ lied to her, no," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to explain himself. "But, not telling her feels like a lie too. Here we are, here _I_ am, with all of these hang ups - the nightmares, the suspicions- and with all of the memories of this big, huge _thing_ that we did, and I haven't shared almost any of it with the woman I love…"

"Oh, Harry…" Hermione whispered, looking at him with happy tears in her eyes. "You love her? You really love her?"

"You're damn right I do Hermione; she's my perfect half. She doesn't demand answers - don't you realize how valuable that's been to me? How trusted that makes me feel? She's letting me learn to trust the world again, and I can't begin to thank her, but I hope to spend the rest of my life trying…"

He'd finished his little diatribe with a look in his eyes that Hermione was all too familiar with. It was the same look he'd had in his eyes in the final days of the war - the look that said he was going to accomplish his mission, or die trying. Given her experience, she had no doubt that he would live up to the words he had just said.

"So we do… nothing?" Hermione asked, still anxious at the idea of someone finding out exactly what had happened back home.

"We do nothing," he confirmed, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. "Let Neville and Jess figure it out. We might want to tell Neville that it'd be OK with us if he decided to share some details with her though - as much as he's comfortable with anyways…"

"I'll talk to the others about it and make sure they're OK with it - it's not just our secret to tell," she finished, thinking about Draco.

Knowing exactly where her mind had wandered, Harry nodded and turned them back towards the campfire.

* * *

Back at the campfire, Neville had decided he'd had enough to drink and stumbled back to his own tent, presumably to sleep it off. Everyone else had pretty much decided to call it a night as well, leaving Pansy, Theo, and Ben sitting awkwardly around the fire. Ben couldn't handle it anymore and decided to just jump in with both feet.

"Are you guys… mad at me, or something?" he demanded, more strongly than he intended due to his nerves.

"Mad? No!" Theo said quickly, turning to Pansy with a look of regret.

"See? _That_. Right there! You say no, but then you look at one another like you're in pain. If I'd known that… whatever _that_ was… was going to fuck everything up, I never would have done it."

Theo locked eyes with Pansy, a long round of silent communication passing between them. Feeling unwanted, Ben made to leave when Pansy whispered, "Wait."

Freezing, Ben turned around and took his seat by the fire slowly, as if making no sudden movements would improve the situation.

"We're not mad at you Ben, I'm… insecure," she said haltingly, looking like she hated the admission. Theo began rubbing her back as he looked across at Ben, silently pleading with him to understand.

"What in Circe's name do you have to be insecure about!?" Ben asked, mind-boggled.

"That's what _I_ said…" Theo muttered, earning him a sharp slap from the witch beside him.

"Look, Theo and I have a history, and that history usually has him finding someone else to play with right when things are getting… intimate. I was worried he was doing the same with you."

Ben looked at Theo and caught the look of shame and remorse on his face. Gathering up his courage, Ben stood slowly and made his way carefully around the fire, sitting on the log next to Pansy. He took both of his hands and used them to frame her face before planting a soft, but passion filled kiss on her mouth.

As soon as Ben's lips made contact with hers, Pansy's eyes widened in shock. _There's such fire_ _there_ , she thought as her eyes closed and she responded in kind. Behind her back, Theo clasped Ben's hand, still holding Pansy's cheek as he watched his friend, _his lover?_ work his own brand of magic. Feeling like he'd made his point, Ben backed away from the kiss, but still held her face.

"Theo wasn't the only one I was after, Pansy - I've known you were a package deal from the beginning - I feel like everyone, but you two know that you're made for each other."

He shuffled his feet as his own insecurities rose up, hoping that she could accept him for who he was, even though he felt like his need for them both made him fairly twisted. "I was just… hoping… that you guys might be able to, I don't know, like me too."

"Of course I like you, you idiot," Pansy stated, smacking him lightly. "I just… I _love_ Theo, and I'm not sure where you fit into it. I'm worried that you won't, quite honestly."

"Trust the Slytherin to be brutally honest," Theo said, sympathetic to what Ben had just heard.

"Do you love her?" Ben asked Theo, glaring at him.

"I.. uhh.. I like her fine," Theo hedged, moving to get up.

At the flash of pain that crossed Pansy's face, quickly covered by her usual mask of indifference, Ben's hand reached out at lightning speed and grasped Theo's arm, holding him in place with a grip like iron. "Do. You. Love her?"

"I… I don't know, alright?" Theo responded, getting angry and trying to pull his arm away.

"Not good enough," Ben spat, standing to get in Theo's face. Something in those words caused Theo to snap and he pushed Ben, both hands on his chest, shoving him as far away as he could get. Knowing that physical violence was only something that Theo resorted to when _extremely_ pissed, Pansy thought it prudent to cast a silencing charm around the area so that no one would be able to hear what happened next.

" _Don't you think I know that!?_ " he yelled, his face suffused with rage, inwardly directed. "I _know_ I'm not good enough for her. I don't even know if I know what love is! How can I stare her in the eye and tell her that I'm in love with her, when I don't even know what it is? How can I be in love with her and feel the way I do about you? _I don't KNOW,_ " he finished, his breathing ragged and strained.

Pansy was sitting on the log wide-eyed at this revelation. She should have known that this whole thing had left him confused - he was an emotionally stunted idiot thanks to his sadistic, psychopath of a father and his complete rigidity when it came to just about everything.

"If you can't love her, then you need to let her go," Ben said quietly, causing Pansy's head to whip around. _What?_ she thought, confused at the depth of feeling she saw there.

"We don't know each other well and we just started, but I _know_ I could love that girl, given the time and the opportunity," Ben said, gesturing to a stunned Pansy. "She's smart and sassy, and completely incapable of dealing with bullshit. She knows who she is, and who she wants, and right now that seems to be you, so if you're not going to take her up on the fucking offer, then get out of my way."

" _Your way?_ " Theo asked, as stunned as Pansy. "I thought you wanted… me?"

"I want you _both_ ," Ben said, beginning to feel thoroughly awkward with all of his feelings out there in the open. "But, if I can't, then I'll try for her. She deserves to be loved Theo, and you know it."

Looking down at Pansy, Theo thought about all of their memories together. From their first tentative shag at Hogwarts, to the blissful experience he'd shared with her and Ben the other night. He couldn't ever remember being happy without Pansy at his side; at least not since his mother had died.

"Yeah, I love her," he whispered, eyes never leaving Pansy's.

Pansy couldn't figure out how this had all happened. When they'd "made up" earlier, Pansy had just decided to deal with Theo's bullshit and forget that she was in love with him. Having him for a short period of time was better than not having him at all, wasn't it? At least that's what she'd convinced herself. Now, hearing Theo say the words she'd been longing to hear, she knew she'd been so, so wrong. _This_ , was better. _This_ , was _life._ She stood up and hugged Theo hard, whispering in his ear. Whatever she said had a shit-eating grin spreading across his face as he held out a hand to Ben, who looked at it skeptically.

"Really mate, get over here - she said so," Theo said, nodding down at Pansy who was shyly peeking out at him from where she'd buried her face in Theo's chest.

Ben stood carefully and made his way over to them, taking Theo's hand with his left, and putting the other on Pansy's hip as the three of them stood, smiling like idiots.

Feeling more protected than she had in her entire life, with both of their broad bodies shielding her from the world, Pansy thought she just might get used to this. _Time to start figuring it out_ , she thought, as she grabbed both boys hands and let them back to her tent.

* * *

Back at WAM after the, all things considered, incredibly eventful holiday, Jess was glad to get back to some sort of routine. Of course, her routine wasn't exactly _that_ anymore, because so much of it used to include Neville, and she was nursing the broken heart of the century. _Why can't he leave me alone_? she asked herself, as she caught sight of him loitering in the common room during her free period, _again_.

Determined to avoid him, she made herself a cup of tea on the sideboard, and then floated it and her school bags, right back out of the common room, heading toward the library. She would be damned if she was one of those girls who let everything go to shit, just because of a boy, so she was going to finish that Defense Against the Dark Arts essay if it killed her. Of course, she felt like she had to pick a completely different subject now, because thinking of the uses of magical plants in the field, and where she had derived most of her research and information from, felt like taking steel wool to an open wound. _Fuck that_ , the thought to herself as she pulled out the eighteen inches of parchment she'd already completed. _This is some of my best work and I'll be damned if I'll let that over protective asshole steal it from me_ , she huffed as the thought crossed her mind and she took the rest of her books and supplies out of her bag. _Of course,_ she continued on her train of thought, unable to leave it alone, _he'd never want me to, and he'd just be sorry that I'm hurting_.

For some reason that did more to anger her than comfort her, and she started ranting about him in her head all over again. Two hours later, through sheer force of will and determination, she rolled up what was now two and a half feet of perfection on the magical uses of plants and how they could be used for both defence, protection, and healing in the field. Feeling smug, she decided to head back to her room and dig out some of the Belgian chocolate she had under her bed that she saved for celebrations, or PMS.

On her way to her room, she crossed the paths of Pansy, Ginny, Sarah, Hermione and Kate who were all clowning around in the hallway.

"Well hello there Jess, how are you doing this fine Friday?" Kate asked, slinging her arm around her shoulder.

"I'm fan-bloody-tastic," she exclaimed, waving her finished essay at them. Hermione's jaw dropped open.

" _I_ haven't even finished that essay yet!" she cried, making a grab for Jess's paper. Too quick for her, Jess managed to duck into her room, still the proud owner of a complete Defence paper, and tucked it away out of sight while grabbing for her chocolate stash.

Pansy and Ginny were laughing and cracking many, many jokes at Hermione's expense because she wasn't the first to finish the assignment as they all piled into Jess and Pansy's room. Catching sight of Jess's stash, Pansy's face dropped. "What's wrong?"

Everyone in the room sobered immediately, and watched as Jess's face fell a little bit. "Nothing's… wrong… I guess? I miss Neville, but really, I was just going to celebrate with a little bit of Belgian chocolate!"

Pansy looked at Kate, who looked at Hermione and the rest of the girls. Thoughts were flitting in between the group of girls so quickly and obviously that Jess imagined she could see them, like tiny little fairies dropping thoughts out of the air.

"What?" Jess demanded, hating that she wasn't in on the 'conversation'.

Having come to some sort of invisible agreement, Pansy grabbed Jess's enviable chocolate stash out of her hands, and tossed it to Hermione. Thus ensued a vaguely hysterical game of keep away that ended with Jess laughing, despite being annoyed that they'd taken her comfort food.

"We refuse to let you 'celebrate' with your PMS food - it's inappropriate," Pansy said, the expression on her face making it clear she thought Jess had crossed some sort of important line.

"It's not _just_ my PMS food - it's my 'I'm really happy' food too!" she protested, not sure why she felt so dishonest uttering those words.

"You totally gorged on this stash in 2nd year when Phelps broke up with you, so you can hardly say that you were 'celebrating' Jess…" Sarah said, dipping into the stash and taking a square for herself.

"Hey!" Jess said, reaching once again for the bag. She wasn't sure whether or not she was more irritated by the truth in the statement, or her friend commandeering her chocolate.

"Well, what would you suggest then?" she demanded, glaring at all of the women in her room.

"Get _even_ ," Pansy said quietly with far more menace than Jess thought entirely appropriate for the situation.

At Pansy's words, a shit-eating grin broke out over Kate's face, an idea formed. "Ladies, what would you say to a girl's night out?"

* * *

 **A/N:** We wanted to let anyone know that our love for Hogwarts is so intense, we assume the WAM kids even know the Hogwarts founders and use their names the way the Hogwarts kids do. Extra love to a faithful follower for pointing this out to us!


	20. Lost and Found

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N:** A big huge shout out to **ErisAceso** who is rocking this story and we are loving where she is going with it. She is an amazing writer with SO much passion for not just this story, but her friends as well.

Hold on, because it's going to be a bumpy ride... no, but seriously this is a sweet chapter and a great way to prep for the next!

If you're curious as to what the hell has taken Gimina Wow away check out her latest WIP 'Cassie Zabini' and RooOJoy has been swept up co-writing 'Out of the Flames'

* * *

 **~Chapter 20 - Lost and Found~**

Neville was sitting in the common room with the other guys, glowering. No man 'pouted', they glowered, especially when the woman in their life was being completely unreasonable. He'd done nothing wrong since the start of their relationship, so he couldn't figure out what Jess was going on about. This ice queen routine she was putting on was no fair to anyone. _Sure, I may have over reacted a few times, but was I overreacting when I saved her bloody life?_ " Working himself into a bit of a frenzy, all the better to confront her and settle this thing once and for all, he was struck dumb when she walked into the room wearing the most delectable outfit he'd ever seen.

A sky blue, scoop necked shirt was pulled tight to her body and gathered in a twisted knot right under her breasts, revealing her perfectly toned stomach, and sapphire studded belly ring. His eyes traveled lower to notice a short pleated, white skirt that showed off her long legs, only to end in platform sandals and baby blue painted toes. Shamelessly, he moved his eyes back up her legs, noticing not for the first time the tiny scar on her mid thigh, and smiled as he lingered a bit too long on the knot in her shirt. He met her eyes for a second before suddenly she was flanked by the rest of the female class, and Neville really had trouble putting two thoughts together. When complete silence willed the common room, he realized that his companions had been similarly struck dumb and decided that at least _one_ of them needed to have a concrete thought, so he prodded his sluggish brain.

"Erm, going… somewhere?" he asked, eyes on Jess.

"What's it to you?" she responded softly, not wanting to be mean, but needing to make it clear that she was not his responsibility.

"Just being friendly," he responded, shrugging. The look in his eyes made it very, very clear to anyone who cared to notice that he was _not_ having friendly thoughts about the witch in front of him.

"We got a pass to leave the island from Ms. Carter, so we're going to have some… fun." Kate said, eyeing Harry and the rest of the boys.

"Sure, let me get dressed," Harry said, moving to get up.

"I'm sorry, did I give you the impression you were invited?" Kate asked sweetly, completely incongruous with the devil-may-care look written on her face.

"Erm… I guess… not?" Harry said, clearly unsure what the proper answer was in this situation. Reviewing the past couple of days, he didn't think he had anything to apologize for, but the expression on Kate's face and the way she was talking to him seemed to suggest differently.

"Everything alright, love?" he asked, just to make sure everything was the way it should be where they were concerned.

In response, Kate made her way slowly across the room and slid her body coyly up against his to give him a friendly kiss on the cheek and a quick hug. While in his embrace, Kate whispered in his ear, "Play along Harry - we're going out for a night of sister solidarity with Jess who is still - rightfully so - mad at Neville and a wee bit heartbroken."

"Right then, uhhhh… Have fun."

"Wait, you're all going out into the city? By yourselves?" Neville asked before he could stop himself. His mind had immediately begun to clear itself as he imagined scenario after scenario where the girls got into trouble and didn't have anyone to help them. He _knew_ they could handle themselves; it wasn't that he thought they were helpless, it's just that they shouldn't _have to_ handle themselves _._ He wished they lived in world where men didn't look at women travelling by themselves and think that they're vulnerable, but that wasn't the world he had experience with.

Jess's face closed as soon as the words left his mouth. "Yes, we're going out, at night, _by ourselves_. Shock. _AWE_." She then grabbed her clutch more tightly, and stormed from the room, with the ladies following behind her, throwing snotty looks over their shoulder at Neville.

"I can't be the _only one_ uncomfortable with the idea that those women are going off to the nightlife of bloody downtown San Francisco, by themselves, can I?"

Draco, who'd been calmly surveying the scene from the couch, stood slowly, pulling down the vest he was wearing and rolling down the sleeves on his dress shirt. "No, Longbottom, you're not. You're just the only one unwise enough to say it to their face. Gentlemen?"

At this, each of the boys went to get their jackets, leaving Neville standing there stunned. "Are you coming, or not, Nev?" Theo asked with a sardonically raised brow.

"Too right, I am."

As the boys made their way to the docks, Draco at the lead with a bottle of the finest liquor he'd stashed away just in case of emergency, to charm Terrence, Neville felt he had to point out the obvious flaw in this plan of theirs.

"Ummmm, fellas? How is it that we got permission to leave the island exactly?"

"If you think that Kate managed to get permission from the Dean for _just the girls_ to go off island at night, you're absolutely fucked, mate," Harry said, slightly out of breath as they tried to keep up with Draco's long stride.

"What do you mean?" Neville demanded, completely confused.

"I love that woman, but she's a Slytherin through and through. I'm willing to bet she told the Dean we would all be going, trusting that the Dean wouldn't check into it, and we'd stay in the common room like a bunch of home bodies."

"Well that's vaguely insulting," Theo said, though slightly awed at the machinations of Kate's mind.

"More than vaguely my friend, but then again, I'm more than intimately familiar with making rash decisions in an attempt to protect a friend," Harry said with a smile, winking at Neville.

Neville couldn't help but smile. When they finally got to the Western Fairy, Terrence was slyly smiling at Draco as he accepted the bottle of aged liquor and gesturing them on to the boat, conspiratorially winking at each of them as they boarded.

For Neville, the trip to the coast couldn't have taken longer. Every minute that his friends were out of his sight was too long in his opinion, and any minute that Jess was alone felt like an eternity. He glanced up as Harry took the seat next to him, looking him over quietly as he stared out of the porthole.

"Hey Neville, do you have a minute?"

"All I've got are minutes, apparently," Neville muttered.

"About that…" Harry started, eyeing his friend carefully. "Your protective streak has gotten you in a bit of trouble here mate."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Look, no one appreciates where you got that streak more than I do, and no one understands what it's like to try and turn it off now that everything's OK like I do, but you've got to try Nev. Not just for Jess, for _you_."

" _Is_ everything OK?" Neville spat, clearly irritated at the line of the conversation. "In this past semester alone, Ginny nearly fell over a cliff, Jess nearly died in the arboretum because of a cock sucking _plant_ , the lot of them nearly perished in a bloody car accident, and then Hermione and Draco nearly got themselves stunned in a supposedly 'fun' game of laser tag. How are you trying to convince me that everything is _OK_?"

Harry took a moment to gather this thoughts as he contemplated his friends latest litany. "Nev, if you look at every bad thing that's happened as your responsibility, or as the world being out to get us, then you're always going to be right, and you're always going to be miserable. If there's one thing that whole war taught me was, it's that the world did _not_ revolve around me, and I was _not_ the only one responsible for ridding the world of the most powerful and dark wizard that has ever lived. I couldn't have done what I did without the help of my friends. I couldn't have done it without _you._ You chopped the head off of Voldemort's final horcrux without even batting an eyelash. Do you know how hard those things fought back against Ron, Hermione, and I when we tried to destroy them? It didn't even fight you." Harry finished, with a little bit of awe in his voice.

"Oh it fought," Neville whispered, his face pale as he remembered.

"What?" Harry was gobsmacked. Neville had never said a thing. "What are you talking about Neville? Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?"

"Because I thought I was fucking _crazy_ Harry!" Neville shouted, standing and pacing within their compartment. Sensing the blowout that was about to happen, and not knowing where Jake, Chris, and Ben were at this particular moment, Harry decided that throwing up some warding charms was the best course of action.

"I picked up that sword, I ran at that snake and every single horrible outcome I had ever imagined became real. Ginny had died at the hands of the Carrows, I'd been unable to save her and you held me responsible. McGonagall died at Snape's hands just like Dumbledore because I hadn't been brave enough to stand up to him. Bellatrix murdered everyone in our class except me, just so that she could watch me live with the fucking guilt and shame. My grandmother disowned me because I wasn't you..." he trailed off, tears choking him.

"Jesus fucking CHRIST, Neville…" Harry whispered, appalled.

"Who?" Neville asked, shocked out of his memories by the unfamiliar term.

"Never mind," Harry said hurriedly, not wanting to get off track. "Why didn't you say anything? You shouldn't have been dealing with that alone Neville; I sure as hell didn't deal with a lot of it alone, I had Ron and Hermione!" He was starting to get angry knowing that Neville had kept this all to himself. No wonder he was imploding. He wondered if this is how Hermione and Ron had felt when he had insisted that he needed to do things on his own…

"Well I had no idea that this was normal behavior for a Horcrux, now did I?" Neville said defensively, shrugging his shoulders like his shirt was too tight. "I just thought it was showing me my weakness, my failures to come. I sure as fuck wasn't about to tell _you_ about all my failures, was I?"

"To quote Hermione, 'What. An. Idiot.' - None of those thing happened Neville! McGonagall didn't die, Snape was a bloody war hero, Ginny made the trip to America with us in case you hadn't noticed, and Bellatrix is _dead_. Why continue to keep it to yourself?"

"I… I don't know," he said, honestly perplexed at why the feeling of shame were so heavy around the memory.

"Listen, I think you need to start talking to someone about this, and I think it should be Jess."

Neville looked at Harry like he'd just turned into Fluffy the three-headed dog. "I beg your pardon? We come to America, swear on our lives we're going to keep the big bloody secret, and you want me to walk up to the love of my life and say, 'Hey love, here's the thing, I've got an Order of Merlin, 2nd class because I beheaded a giant snake that happened to be housing a bit of 'The Dark Lord's soul and I'm a bit fucked because of it?'"

"Well, not in so many words, but yeah," Harry said, shrugging. "Listen, Hermione and I talked to the rest of the students, and we agree that you need to tell her something. She's not stupid Neville, she knows something's off about you…"

The look of utter offense on Neville's face had Harry letting out an exasperated sigh. "Not _that way_ , you git. She can tell you're hiding something from her and how we all acted around the game of laser tag; she's been asking some pretty pointed questions of all of us."

"Questions? What questions?" Neville looked worried, not about himself, but that Jess might have been pressing some of the others because he hadn't managed to set her straight yet.

"Neville. Relax. Pansy said she noticed how well we fought together in laser tag - she saw Ginny tag someone from fifty yards away for Circe's sake! Add to that that Pansy scared her completely daft by sneaking out of the bushes behind her and she's pretty certain we have some skills that people our age shouldn't really have. You can hardly blame her for noticing. We're different Neville, all of us."

"How do you even go about explaining it all, Harry? How do you tell someone that's lived this charmed life, who's never seen a fraction of the fear and the death that you have, that it exists? That it's real? I just want to shield her from it. She should never have to know what that was like. For me, or anyone else."

"I don't know mate, I'm still trying to figure it out myself. Look, I'm not telling you to go and tell her every bloody thing about the war, but you've got to give her something. A glimpse into what you're going through, anything that will give her the perspective she needs to see that you're not protective for no reason, and you're only doing it because you love her, the same way you love all of us," Harry finished, patting Neville on the shoulder.

With a wry grin, Neville nodded his head saying, "No offense mate, but I don't think I'll be telling her that I fancy her the same way I fancy you, Malfoy, and Nott, alright?"

"Prat," Harry said without heat, chuckling to himself. Glad that they were both on even footing, Harry lifted the wards he'd placed all over the cabin and all of the sudden Theo, Draco, Ben, Chris and Jake all came tumbling through the cabinet door. Draco, ever the gentleman, pulled himself out of the pile, dusted himself off and drew himself up to his full height, nose just a little bit in the air.

"Having some _alone_ time gentleman?"

"Shove off Malfoy, my name is _Neville Longbottom_ , not Theodore Nott, yeah?"

At this, they all choked on their laughter while Theo looked shocked - none laughing harder than Ben.

"Yeah, yuck it up Ben, last time I looked we were living in the same house, so to speak?" Theo said, shooting Ben a scathing look. This remark sobered Ben remarkably, while the rest of the boys launched into a new round of laughter.

"Alright, alright, now that the ice is broken, the tension is gone and we're all friends again, can we get down to how we're going to find the girls?" Draco drawled, looking bored to everyone, but Harry, who could see the eagerness to find Hermione in his eyes.

The boys went over and over multiple theories about how they could locate the girls when Harry noticed that Neville was looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"Alright there Neville?" he asked, trying to pull his attention back to the strategy session.

Neville looked up vaguely alarmed before squaring his shoulder, a truly harrowing sight as Harry knew that this tended to portend a bombshell was about to be dropped. Neville didn't disappoint.

"I have a way to locate the girls," he stated frankly, his hands in his pockets like he'd just come up and said, 'Hi, how do you do?'

A huge uproar ensued until Draco put both of his first fingers in his mouth and let loose and ear piercing whistle. "GENTLEMEN! Kindly put your little pricks back in your trousers, if you're done measuring. You'll remember the goal of this exercise was to _find the women_ , and Neville can do that, so shut your gobs and let's hear it."

Neville, looking around at the quiet, expectant faces, began to blush as he found the words to admit what he'd done.

"I… I put a low level locator spell on Jess's favorite bra. She's wearing it tonight, if the fit of that shirt was any indication."

"Excellent," Draco said, thoroughly pleased and more than a little impressed that Neville had had the audacity to do it, let alone come up with the idea all by his lion-hearted self. It was truly Slytherin and he wish he'd thought of it himself.

"You did _what?_ " Harry asked, astonished. "If any of the girls find out about this, we're all in _serious_ trouble…"

"Best not let the girls find out then, shall we?" Jake said, bouncing with his need to be gone and finding his women.

"Alright, I don't think we need to make an Unbreakable Vow here, we all know no one's getting laid for a _really_ long time if this get's out," Theo quipped making eye contact with all of the men. His eyes landed on Chris and his eyes narrowed. "Hey, you don't exactly have any skin in this game - what's to keep you from blabbing just to see us all suffer?"

"Just to be clear, I get plenty of _skin_ , I just prefer to keep it a little less… incestuous, than sleeping with my classmates," Chris said as he mulled the idea over in his mind and then turned to Ben. He put his hand over his heart, held his wand in the other and said, "I solemnly vow, never to tell the women in our group that we used the locator spell on Jess's underwear to find them this evening."

Looking at Theo, he smirked and said, "Satisfied?"

Glancing at the other men involved, Theo nodded and said, "Absolutely chuffed, if I'm honest."

With that, the group moved to deboard the ferry, and made their way into the city, following the tiny compass that floated in front of Neville, giving off the faintest, slightly effervescent pink light.

* * *

Jess was pleasantly buzzed. The drinks flowed freely, the music was loud and full of a dark, vibrating bass beat that was in time with her heartbeat. Hearing a particular song that she liked, she screamed in excitement, arms shooting into the air as she moved towards the dance floor, grabbing her friends as she passed them. Moving along to the rhythm of the song, she was blissfully unaware of anything other than the feel of the music, the sway of her body and the pulsing of her heart.

She was dying for Neville, dreaming about him; imagining his hands running over her body, dipping her hips as he ground against her, perfectly in tune with her every move, worshipping her body as she danced the night away.

It wasn't until she heard Kate swear, loudly, that she opened her eyes and realized that she was not dreaming about Neville, and those were _not_ his hands.

"...the fuck!?" Jess slurred, pulling away from the man behind her, a way too old, yet handsome man with dark hair and a goatee.

"Come here baby, we were just getting started," he leered, reaching out for Jess again.

"You were just _leaving_ ," Hermione said, putting herself between Jess and the man. He shrugged good naturedly and then headed back to the table where he received ample back patting and high fives from his buddies, similarly clad in leather jackets.

"Fuck, what is it about men in clubs!?" Kate demanded, completely pissed at the man's audacity. That being said, it wasn't like Jess was really coherent enough to have said anything to the contrary - but that was only part of the problem and he _knew_ she was in no condition to consent to anything, even something as supposedly innocent as dancing.

"Alright girls, I'd say we've had a good night, don't you?" Ginny said, her arm around Jess's waist as Jess rested her head on her shoulder, a pleasant smile plastered all over her face.

"Yessir," Jess said dreamily.

"Right then, time to go," Kate stated, looking for the closest exit. Seeing the glowing orange exit sign seemed like a gift from the gods, and Kate led the group toward it, keeping an eye out to make sure that they were all accounted for. The second they got through the door though, Kate realized they'd come through a fire exit door into one of the side streets instead of the main drag.

"Dammit, we'll never catch a cab here. Let's go ladies!"

Sarah helped Ginny maneuver Jess through the street, everyone giggling at how little control Jess seemed to have over her feet and her mouth.

"Twas a nice evening wassinit?" she mumbled, running her tongue over her teeth like she could remove her speech impediment that way.

"It was glorious Jess, don't let anyone tell you different," Pansy chuckled at her newfound friend, pleasantly enjoying not being the one who was going to need a savage Sober-Up Potion in the morning.

As the girls were making their way arduously to the main street, they heard the door they'd come through open once again, and witnessed a group of spectacularly drunk men fall through it, laughing hysterically. Once they'd managed to get themselves sorted, Kate realized it included the man who'd tried to pick up Jess.

She caught Sarah's eye and mouthed, "Let's go."

"Hey baby, ready for round two?" the goateed man said behind them, much closer than Kate was comfortable with. Reaching into her purse, she held the can of pepper spray her dad insisted she carry with her at all times when she was planning to be in the city - night time, or otherwise. She turned to the man, a sickly sweet smile on her face as Pansy, Hermione, Ginny and Sarah all moved to close Jess in a circle, supported and protected on all sides.

"She wasn't exactly 'ready' for round one, now was she? But we'll call that 'no harm, no foul' and be on our way," Kate stated clearly, her tone brooking no argument.

"She was totally into it, bitch, I don't know why you're making it sound any different! I don't need to force anyone to get with _this_ ," he retorted, gesturing crudely to his package and the rest of what Kate was sure he thought was a perfectly toned body. In reality, he had a pleasant enough face that was undercut by poor hygiene and a lack of respect for his body.

"She was totally _drunk_ is what she was, asshole, so move along before we make you sorry," Ginny spat, losing her patience for this ridiculous excuse for a man.

Sarah and Hermione sighed loudly at this point, recognizing that this would not be received well and that they were evenly numbered. Hermione murmured frantically to Ginny, "You do realize we can't use magic here right? This is a muggle club, in a muggle district, in muggle San Francisco. _Muggle, Gin!_ "

"Shit, my wrong!" Ginny said, starting to look a little bit worried about their current situation. She hadn't taken into consideration the fact that she couldn't use her wand before speaking.

"Your bad, love. Your _bad_ ," Sarah muttered, reaching into her own bag for the fog horn she'd been a proud owner of since a bad bar incident the year before. It had been a gag gift, but she was finding it fairly practical just now.

"Right, sorry!"

"Oooooh, maybe I'll take the ginger-haired fancy talkin' one," the goateed man's blonde companion said, moving towards Ginny in a way that was supposed to be nonchalant, but was totally menacing.

Neville, Harry, Draco, and the rest of the boys started coming around the edge of the building, when Draco held out an arm stopping them all in their tracks.

"What is it?" Neville asked, getting increasingly worried.

"I think we're in for a front row seat to our women kicking some ass," Draco said, his smile feral in the moonlight.

" _What?"_ hissed Neville, trying to get around everyone as they held him rooted to the spot.

Just as Draco suspected, the boys watched as Hermione picked up a nearby bottle, which seemed to be some kind of signal as simultaneously, Pansy, and Ginny ducked out of the way with Jess, pulling her behind a nearby dumpster as Sarah pressed the button on something horrendously loud right next to one of the men's ears. Next in the flurry of movement, was a hissing sound emanating from Kate's wand hand. For a minute, Harry thought she'd hexed him with her wand, but then he saw what was a can of pepper spray as the person she'd aimed it at, a man with dark hair and a goatee, flopped to the ground and flailed around like a landed fish, screaming and clawing at his eyes. Hermione, now the proud owner of a broken beer bottle that she cracked off the same dumpster Pansy, Ginny and Jess were hiding behind, was now brandishing it like the weapon it was, one eyebrow raised in invitation to the remaining standing men.

Realizing that these girls were not to be messed with, the remaining men raised their hands in surrender, moving to collect their fallen comrades, and back into the club.

Theo, never one to miss out on a theatrical moment, took advantage of his stunned compatriots and walked around the corner, clapping loudly, and slowly.

"Well done ladies, well done. Handled them like you've been doing it all your lives," he drawled as he walked lazily towards them.

"Theo?" Pansy called recognizing that snark anywhere. Coming out from behind the dumpster, she took one moment to give him a curious look before launching herself at him and giving a huge, smacking kiss.

"Hello love, miss me?"

"Not for a minute," she said, smiling broadly.

"What are you guys doing here?" Hermione asked curiously, more than happy to accept Draco's long jacket for warmth.

"Oh, you know, just out for a midnight stroll…" Theo drawled in a startling impression of Draco's aristocratic tone.

"Bullshit," Ginny spluttered, laughing like she couldn't help herself. She turned with Sarah almost as a single unit, to glare at Jake. Jake, a smart man at heart, raised his hands in surrender and moved to help them with Jess.

Neville's hand shot out to stop Jake like a brick wall stops a truck. "I've got it."

"Are you sure that's the best idea…?" Kate asked, as she watched Neville approach a giggling pale-faced Jess.

Neville didn't even dignify Kate's question with a response as he whipped off his own jacket, draped it over Jess's shoulders and held back her hair and started rubbing her back as she quietly vomited in the corner. When she was finished, Neville scooped her up in his arms like she was 120 pounds of cotton candy instead of a drunk, pissed off female.

"Alright, love. Time to go home," he said to her softly, letting her head loll on his shoulder.

"Don't call me love, s'not fair," she slurred, trying to push her hair out of her face.

"Fair?" Neville asked, puzzled.

"S'not fair! I'm trying to hate you and you're still making me love you. S'not fair."

"Alright lo-... Jess, I'll try to let you hate me for a bit."

"Fanks, but… just for a bit mmmmk? I kinda like loving you, I just wan' you to be safe too. Who's lookin' out for Neville? _Me_ , thaswho. Even when I'm tryin' tuh save you from yourselves…"

Jess promptly fell asleep to the sway of Neville's broad steps as he walked toward the boat, a sad smile on his face as he realized the breadth of her love, and the ferocity of her spirit.

* * *

Jess woke up the following morning and felt like death. Exactly like death, only maybe a little warmed over. To be fair, she'd never been as close to death as she thought she might be at that very moment, but she was pretty sure it was imminent.

Looking down, she saw that she was dressed in her favorite pajamas. She had a slightly minty residue in her mouth, and there was a note next to a bottle of Sober-Up Potion on her bedside table. "Drink this, and feel better. N."

Groaning at the realization that not only had she gotten mind bendingly drunk last night, she vaguely remembered Neville showing up and helping her puke behind a dumpster. _Juuuust great,_ she thought to herself, running her hands over her face. Tucking the note in her bedside table, she opened up the potion phial and downed it in one. Within a minute, her headache had dulled, she no longer felt like she was on a boat, or had tried eating an entire package of saltines in one go. _Improvement_. It was as she was changing out of her pajamas and grabbing her robe and shower things, that Jess realized she had been in no condition to get herself into her pajamas last night. Meaning, _Neville_ had gotten her dressed. Trying to figure out how she felt about that, she started making her way towards the bathroom, praying that she didn't see anyone.

As she opened the door, it hit something and a soft "oof!" sounded from somewhere in the region of her ankles. _What the..._ "Neville?" Jess asked, astonished. "What are you doing out here?"

Rubbing his face vigorously, trying to get his brain to wake up, Neville considered his options. "How pissed would you be if I said I was sleeping on the floor outside your room to make sure you weren't bothered and didn't need anything last night?"

Rubbing her upper lip to hide her grin, she pulled her face together and said, "Very," with a completely straight face.

"Right then, I tripped and fell just as you opened the door. The fact that I'm wearing the clothing I was wearing last night is completely coincidental," he said, tucking his hands in his pockets and slowly backing away towards his room.

Unable to help herself, Jess broke out into a fit of giggles and gave Neville a quick hug. "This isn't fixed between you and I; you still have some explaining to do, and you won't share my bed until you do it. But, Neville?"

He looked up as she called his name, meeting her eyes for what felt like the first time in weeks.

"I'm done hating you."

It was like Neville was a marionette and someone had cut all of the strings. Just like that the tension that she'd seen living there since the fight first started seemed to melt away, allowing him to pull himself up to his full height and stand tall.

"I'll… I'll think about that, OK lo-... Jess?"

She caught the stumble, and smiled a sad smile. "OK Nev, but… don't think too long, will you?"

And with that, she turned and made her way to the shower, hoping the water would hide the tears that were slowly leaking down her face.


	21. Ghosts of Christmas' Past

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N:** Are you ready for some lemons? Hope so, because this is why we love Dramione!

* * *

 **~Chapter 21 - Ghosts of Christmas' Past~**

As the winter holidays approached and the students sat their exams, Hermione found herself remarkably surprised at how much free time she'd had. It may have been an accelerated program, thus the end of term exams as opposed to end of year exams, but not having some sort of major disaster to research, or avoid, had left her timetable for studying quite relaxed, and as a result, she sailed through exam season without the least bit of stress. _Well maybe a little bit_ , as she remembered the difficult essay that Dean Carter had set for their final exam question. Given that they'd proven themselves more than proficient at Defense Against the Dark Arts, the Dean had given them an exam that thoroughly tested their knowledge acquired to date, and then finished with an essay question that simply read, "What is your greatest fear, and what do you _not_ currently know that would help you conquer it?"

At first Hermione had been outraged at the subjectivity of the question, but when she thought about it, and began spinning the answer into an intricate web of aspects she'd like to cover in her education, she saw the wisdom in it. Dean Carter really seemed to care about the education of her students, and this question was more about determining her curriculum for the following semester, than it was about marks.

It had been amazing watching Harry throughout the exam preparation period. Gone were the days where she had to beg him to do his homework, or revision. He could often be caught at all hours of the night, studying under a lumos spell in the common room. She'd always known he had the capability to be a good student, but now that she saw him actually apply himself, she wouldn't be surprised if he beat her on a couple of subjects - but only a couple, she _was_ Hermione Granger after all, she had a reputation to uphold.

Laughing at herself, and her liquor-induced expansiveness, she looked around at her classmates who had all gathered in the common room for a pre-holiday, post-exam party, complete with the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products that Ginny had received from George in an illicit package delivered by Errol, to the general hilarity of everyone who witnessed it. The whole thing had started when Kate had announced that her family had officially been named the host parents for the holidays for all of the Hogwarts students. The boys, who knew Kate's dad's proclivity for high speed, high octane toys, had proclaimed this the best Christmas _ever_ , which had prompted Ginny to delve into her celebratory stash.

As the fireless fireworks began to sputter, only emitting a soft fart of color every few minutes, the crowd began to break up. Sarah and Ginny headed back to Sarah's room, Jake trailing close behind them. Harry helped a thoroughly inebriated Kate back to her dorm room, while Ben and Chris tidied up; Hermione grabbed a throw blanket and prepared to make herself comfortable. She looked across the couch, one eye open on Malfoy who had his eyes closed, feet up, with a contented grin on his face.

"Good night," Ben said finally, as Chris followed him out of the room.

"Did _you_ have a good night Granger?" Malfoy asked sleepily

"I had the best night of my life, after the night Harry made sure Voldemort would never hurt another human being, wizard, or muggle, ever again," she said sleepily, the alcohol having loosened her tongue considerably.

Malfoy sat up in alarm, looking over his shoulder to ensure everyone else had left and that they weren't being overheard. "Granger! Keep your bloody voice down would you? Someone could have heard you," he said somewhat angrily, running his hands through his hair. "Blimey, why not just run around the dorm room singing 'Draco's a defected Death Eater' while you're at it?" he wondered aloud.

"Because I never thought of you as a true Death Eater. I still don't and you bloody know it," she said frankly, yawning while standing to move towards the hallways. She made her way from the couch to the boys hallway, swaying slightly, as Draco came up behind her, putting a steadying hand on her hip, letting her lean back into him as he nuzzled her ear.

"I think I like drunk Granger - she's incredibly honest and frankly, a bit filthy," he murmured, moving her towards his room.

"You've _no_ idea how filthy I can be _Malfoy,_ " she purred, turning to grab him by his shirt as she backed through his bedroom door and he closed it behind them. Both of them were completely oblivious to the pair of eyes, watching from the shadows.

* * *

Christmas Eve at the Mills' residence was looking like it would live up to every expectation they were given and then some. Draco walked into the main foyer, amazed at the opulence. For some reason he'd assumed that _wealthy_ didn't exactly mean the same thing in America as it did in England, but if his surroundings were any indication, he was dead wrong. The front foyer was magnificent with fairy lights floating mid air, poinsettias in green, red, white and what had to be a magical gold, on every surface. With a look into the dining room on his left, he caught sight of Neville and Jess talking to Chris by the bar, and noticed that the decor was mirrored there, in an ingenious display of elegance and class. Subtle ivory tiled the floor, everywhere, with gold inlay, and the Mills house crest in the center of each grouping of four tiles. The effect was understated, yet powerful. He took a mental note to see if they could do something similar when they rebuilt Malfoy Manor - he'd already vowed to raze the place to the ground and start from scratch. His time in America had taught him that things could be made new, and he intended to do just that with his childhood home.

He looked around, noting the presence of Potter and Jake, both of them checking their watches and looking at the staircase - center stage in the foyer, ribboned on both sides, meeting in a landing before splitting into a left and right staircase to better access the wings of the estate. Draco looked at Harry and smiled. That man was in the deepest kind of love, even if he didn't completely know it yet. The fact that Kate had given him the quintessential gift was just icing on the cake. The look on his face as he glanced at the pocket watch she'd had made out of a golden snitch was priceless. _Good for him_ , he thought, _he deserves it like no one else._

They were all waiting for their women, their witches, in a tradition as old as time. Draco was distracted by Mrs. Mills who had been making her rounds and welcoming her guests. _Now that was a woman whom he could grow to respect_ , he thought _._ The way she handled the mantle of her household, the way she didn't shy away from awkward topics and confronted the world head on, well, that was the way his more tolerable relatives had described the late Dorea Potter - his Great Aunt and a Black by birth. She'd never been one to shy away from awkward topics like love, and sex. _Neither had Ms. Mills_ he thought recalling with a laugh the earlier conversation with Potter regarding his relationship with her daughter.

"Mr. Malfoy," she said, shaking his hand and bowing her head slightly in a gesture of respect.

Oddly touched, he nodded back saying, "Mrs Mills, this is a beautiful evening you're putting on and your home is spectacular."

"Thank you dear, I must confess to having very little input, as our house elves always come up with the theme themselves. I've rather let them run amok I'm afraid…"

"I happen to know of one witch in particular who would be absolutely delighted to hear it," he said, laughing despite himself.

It was then that he looked up, a motion at the landing on the staircase catching his eye. Hermione, stood at the top of the stairs, scanning the crowd, looking for something. For _him_. She met his eye and the gaze she gave him smoldered. It spoke of forbidden things, things that they'd done, things that they'd yet to do and his mouth ran dry. Then he noticed her dress and he truly lost the ability to form coherent thought.

Hermione looked down at Draco and smiled slyly. He looked dumbstruck, and that was _exactly_ the reaction she'd been looking for when she'd gone shopping with Kate. The dress was floor length, but had a generous v in the front displaying a large quantity of flesh; she'd had to go to Victoria's Secret just to find the appropriate undergarments as she'd had nothing in her repertoire that would have suited this masterpiece. She turned slowly, reaching back to ostensibly straighten Kate's earring, revealing the backless portion of her dress, the cut of the fabric trailing down _just_ above the seam in her backside. She knew what she looked like in this dress, and from the expression on Draco's face, he knew what she looked like out of it. _And wasn't that the point?_ she thought to herself, smiling.

Slowly, she descended the steps one at a time, allowing the generous slit in the navy blue, sequined dress to reveal her gartered thigh, until she was standing in front of her wizard, placing a demure kiss on his cheek.

"Hello Mrs. Mills, thank you so much for having us, your home is truly a masterpiece," she said, grasping the hand of their hostess and smiling warmly. Ivana Mills was no slouch, and she noticed every look, every silent exchange between the pair in front of her. _Good_ , she thought, _it's about time for both of them_. As she turned, she caught sight of her daughter at the top of the stairs and grinned slowly, from ear to ear. _That_ , she thought, _is_ my _masterpiece. I made that from scratch._

Kate had finally made her entrance in a shimmering gold dress that was short enough to have grown mens knees buckle. It had a straight neckline, but it drifted off the shoulders allowing for the broad expanse of her neck to be framed elegantly by her mother's diamonds, which provided a brief flash and dripped old money. Harry, who had been eagerly waiting for her arrival at the party, stared at her with a frank appreciation written all over his face. He only had eyes for one woman, and that woman was Kate. He honed in on her like a bludger looking for prey, and he moved throughout the crowd until he was by her side, able to grasp her hand, placing a kiss on the back of it.

"Well my, my," Ivana said, touched by the level of reverence written on Harry's face. "They do look like a fairy tale ending, don't they?"

"They do indeed Mrs. Mills," Draco said quietly, following her gaze.

"Now, now. Please don't call me Mrs. Mills, it reminds me of my mother-in-law; please, it's Ivana. Welcome to our home, and please enjoy the party!" she said, as she made her way to the next set of guests, keeping a watchful and pride-filled eye on her daughter.

Draco wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist and bent to whisper in her ear. "Ms. Granger, I do believe you're trying to send a message in that dress this evening. To whom would you be trying to deliver said message?"

"Why, Mr. Malfoy, I have no idea what you're talking about. This dress is simply the one that fit me best, and was particularly appropriate for the occasion," she said demurely, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Minx," he said, so only she could hear. Her cheeks warmed, and so did the rest of her. _Only four more hours_ , she thought to herself, trying to remember that it wouldn't be polite to disappear early.

"Shall we dance?" she said breathlessly, trying to keep the in the public eye, lest the lust get the better of either of them.

"Fantastic idea," he agreed, leading her out onto the dance floor.

* * *

Jake was getting anxious. Nights like these were fraught with peril for men in his situation. _Not that I've known many people_ in _my situation,_ he thought doggedly. How could he possibly show both Sarah and Ginny how he felt about them? He'd asked for their general outfit colors so that he could be properly prepared, but he felt woefully inadequate for the task at hand. He was just worrying about whom he should greet first when both Sarah and Ginny appeared on the landing together.

Sarah was clad in a purple chiffon dress that seemed both demure, and alluring at the same time. It appeared to have full sleeves, until you looked more closely and discovered that the fabric was only tied together at her elbow and her wrist, providing a delicate and angelic looking flutter of fabric around both of her arms. It floated near her ankles, but was sheer up until an inch or two below the apex of her thighs, where the actual fabric of the dress made itself known. He noticed the ethereal nature of her dress as she reached up to brush something off of Ginny's face before descending the final staircase.

Ginny looked down and saw Jake, transfixed by their appearance at the top of the final staircase. She'd spent the past hour getting ready with Sarah, and even she wasn't used to how beautiful she was in that dress, so she felt a modicum of pity for Jake who was seeing it for the first time. Looking down at her own frame dressed in the dress that Jake had bought for her that day in New York; a bottle green, skin tight, sheath dress that appeared to be made from eight, or ten different bands of fabric sewn together, paired with the black spiked heels she was wearing. Ginny thought Jake might just see an early grave tonight. She locked eyes with Sarah and they nodded once before linking fingers and descending the stairs together.

Jake, ever the gentleman, met them at the bottom of the stairs, turning and taking each of their hands in his respective elbows, noting that his bicolored pocket square matched each of their dresses perfectly.

"My _ladies_ ," he said, with emphasis, "You look phenomenal this evening."

"Why thank you sir," both the girls said together with a laugh.

Their exit was vaguely disturbed by the joint appearance of Theo, Ben and Pansy, all looking slightly disheveled. Pansy was wearing a dress that she looked like she'd been dipped in, made of red satin that came to her knees, with lipstick to match and a devil may care expression on her face. Theo, ever the gentleman in his black three-piece tuxedo with a vest that was the perfect compliment of red to Pansy's dress, extended his elbow and quirked an eye at Ben, clad in a matching outfit indicating he should do the same on her other side, so that they could come down the stairs together.

Everyone joined Hermione and Draco on the dance floor with varying degrees of success. Neville it turned out, was quite the dancer as he'd demonstrated at the Yule ball, so he and Jess were making a proper show of the Venetian Waltz currently being played by the quartet in the corner. Harry, was being forcefully led by Kate who could not stop giggling at the clear discomfort Harry was in. Theo and Pansy were bucking tradition completely and doing some sort of tricky jive in the center of the dance floor that involved far more grinding than Draco thought respectful in public, as Ben leered at them, cocktail in hand and ordered two more from the barkeep. Draco was just about to interrupt them when Hermione stiffened in his arms. He looked down only to see her eyes narrow at a woman across the room who'd thrown her blonde curly haired head back in laughter, as an acid-green quill scribbled hastily beside her.

"Is that _Rita Skeeter?_ " he asked incredulous, urgently trying to get Potter's attention without drawing any himself.

"Yes, I do believe it is," Hermione said so quietly he'd barely heard her. _This is a sure sign of trouble_ , he thought watching as she narrowed her eyes and started searching the crowd. "Excuse me Draco," she said and started to move away from him. He grabbed her arm and held her close until she looked back up at him and he could see her eyes.

"Just what is it you plan to do here Granger?" he asked, eyebrow raised, trying to hide the anxiety seeing that reporter had caused.

"Oh, Draco, I'd never do anything to draw attention to us here," she said, holding her palm against his face and looking once more like the sweet girl who'd come down the stairs that evening. It was fascinating watching the cunning, brutal Hermione make her way to the surface as she once again heard the laughter emanating from the Daily Prophet reporter. "I just have to remind Ms. Skeeter of our little… arrangement," she said, deathly quiet once again. Instead of getting in the way, Draco resolved to sit back and watch the show, while simultaneously making Potter and Longbottom aware of the situation. As he watched Hermione weave her way through the crowd toward Skeeter, he made his way toward Harry who had stopped dancing and was at the bar with Chris, Ben and Neville who had all decided to take a break from festivities and have a drink.

"Potter," he said shortly, his anxiety seeping through. Harry's shoulders rose, a remnant from their past he supposed as he did sound like his pre-pubescent self at the moment. He turned, took one look at Draco's face, grabbed Neville by the arm and nodded to an alcove behind the bar where they could talk more privately. _Thank Merlin Potter is a quick study of facial expression_ , he thought to himself.

"Rita Skeeter is here," he stated with no preamble. Harry's eyes widened, and Neville immediately started scanning the crowd.

"Where?" Neville said, still unable to locate them. Draco looked out where he'd known Rita Skeeter had been standing moments before and he grew increasingly agitated the longer he searched with no sign of Skeeter, or Hermione.

"Fuck _me,_ " he spat with heat.

"What?" Harry asked, agitated at being unable to divine Draco's thoughts on the issue at hand.

"Hermione. She was the one who saw her first and I let her go to talk to her," Draco said shortly, still scanning the crowd, hoping in vain that her tousled curls would make an appearance.

"You did _what?_ " Harry and Neville demanded simultaneously.

"What?" he demanded defensively. "She said she needed to remind Skeeter of their 'arrangement', which sounded civil enough to me. Am I missing something?" he asked, correctly interpreting their looks of dread.

"Well, considering that Hermione kept Rita Skeeter alive in a bell jar for the better part of a month, only occasionally providing food and water, I'd say yes," Harry retorted dryly.

" _That's_ what she meant by 'I should never have released her'!? That's not very Gryffindor of her, was it?" he said stupidly, still trying to get his brain around the idea that Hermione could treat anyone with anything but the greatest respect. "Wait a minute, did you say _bell jar_? How the fuck did she get her in a bell jar?"

"Aaaaand there he is," Neville said, patting him on the back. "Welcome back to the party Malfoy! Rita Skeeter is an unregistered animagus remember? Hermione caught her in her animal form and since the jar was so tiny, Rita risked doing herself serious harm if she decided to change back into her human form. It was fairly ingenious actually…."

"Less about her ingenuity, more about finding where the _fuck_ she's gone with the woman!" Draco hissed, starting to genuinely lose his cool. "You do all remember the oath we took at the beginning of the term to keep our noses out of trouble, yeah? Well, I hardly think that imprisoning, or otherwise harming a member of the wizarding press is a really great way to live up to that vow, do you?"

"Fair point," Harry said, scanning the crowd for Hermione.

"There," Neville said, eyes locked on a curtain across the room.

"What? That's a curtain Nev, not a person," Harry said, giving his friend a crooked look.

"Do you honestly believe that Hermione bloody Granger would be stupid enough to confront Rita Skeeter in _public?_ I'll bet you dollars to donuts, that's them making that curtain rustle. And, given the amount of rustling, that Hermione is doing her best to quietly throttle the woman, let's go!"

The boys surreptitiously made their way as quickly as they could across the room, ducking behind the curtain one by one, as a second small alcove was revealed to them.

"... and if I catch one more word of print that doesn't ring so true my teeth hurt, you'll get a one way bloody ticket to Azkaban. Is. That. Clear?"

The boys watched as Hermione, her face dark with rage towered over Rita Skeeter despite their obvious height difference. Hermione's sheer force of will seemed to be making the older woman shrink in on herself. Noticing the boys, and not willing to be seen as weak to anyone else, Rita drew herself up and infused her spine with some reserved strength before nodding curtly to Hermione and stomping off to rejoin the party.

"There, well that's that, all done and dusted, isn't it. Champagne anyone?" Hermione asked, moving to leave the hidden alcove to scan the crowd for one of the wait staff who'd been wandering around with charmed glasses of champagne.

" _Champagne_?" Draco demanded, his worry quickly turning to ire. "Gentlemen, if you'll excuse us…"

Not needing to be asked twice, Neville and Harry quickly left the alcove in the same direction as Rita, looking to rejoin their friends on the other side of the room.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing Hermione?"

Hermione turned to look at Draco, slightly startled by the vehemence behind the question.

"I was making sure that our names didn't make it into the paper given how we were dancing just now. There are people back home who deserve to be told about our… relationship, in person, not find out about it in some stupid, tabloid newspaper."

"People, you say? Do you mean Weasleby?"

Shifting uncomfortably at Draco's switch to one of Ron's more unpleasant nicknames from school, Hermione stood her ground, tipped her chin up and said, "Yes, he's one of them."

"Ashamed of me, are you Granger?" Draco drawled, his voice icy, like he was making the transition from the man she'd fallen in love with, to the boy she'd loved to hate, right before her eyes.

"Stop that," she spat angrily, her own temper catching fire. "You know damn well how I feel about you, and shame isn't on the bloody list, so cut the shit!"

"Don't speak to me that way!" Draco hissed, stepping up to her and grabbing her by the arm. He found that the line between temper and passion was fading quickly and he couldn't quite figure out which side he was trying to land on.

"What way?" Hermione asked sweetly, bringing her knee up to his crotch.

Freezing as her knee barely touched his soft parts, Draco wasn't fooled by her sweet tone for a second.

"Ok, let's just… take a step back and discuss this civilly, shall we?"

"Why Draco, love, what an excellent idea," she said, removing her knee and taking a step back now that he had let go of her arm. Ever the polite witch, she conjured a set of chairs and gestured for him to take the first one.

After they sat, Draco tried to collect himself. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to confront Rita Skeeter about the picture? You made it seem like you were speaking of a business arrangement, not bloody blackmail," Draco muttered, still irritated that she'd deceived him.

"I knew you wouldn't approve, and I didn't want you to interfere," Hermione said promptly, crossing her legs to reveal a wide expanse of her gartered thigh and just a sliver of the creamy skin beneath them.

Draco licked his lips and tried to stay on track. "You're right… see? You, you didn't want me to know, and… and that's no good, because we're partners Hermione!"

"Of course we are darling," Hermione said and leaned forward to put her hand on his face, giving him an excellent view of the cleavage that was all but spilling out of her dress.

Shaking his head, Draco was grasping feebly at the wisps of control that were still his. "Hermione, I'm serious. Would you…. Would you stop looking at me like that!?" he all but shrieked, trying to put some distance between them.

"Like what?" Hermione asked, adopting her saccharine tone once again.

"Like I'm bloody sex on a stick, that's what," Draco muttered, rearranging himself in his pants.

"Poor Draco, would you like me to do something about that? It looks awfully uncomfortable."

"It _is_ uncomfortable dammit, but I'm not through being upset with you!"

At that, Hermione sat back and recrossed her legs, steepling her fingers in her lap. "Well then by all means, continue."

Taking a deep breath and marshalling his thoughts, Draco did something that was completely foreign to him - he reached down deep and grabbed hold of his emotions. He thought about how scared he'd been when he'd discovered her missing, how worried he was when he found out who exactly Skeeter was to her, and what lengths she was willing to go to deal with the woman. With those feelings right at the surface, he turned and locked eyes with Hermione.

"You're right that I didn't like what you did in there - it was reckless, and dangerous; two qualities that I don't associate with your character, and that makes me worry about you. You disappeared from sight with a witch who has known animosity towards you and the rest of our friends, as well as a particular bent for making sure that her secret stays just that. She's been an unregistered animagus for _decades_ Hermione, did it not occur to you that she'd face a life sentence in Azkaban if anyone back home found out?"

"Of course it occurred to me, that's why I'm using it as blackmail," Hermione said, delighted with herself, and slightly affronted that he seemed to think she'd missed something.

"And what do you suppose Ms. Skeeter would be willing to do to keep that secret?" Draco asked patiently, waiting for her to get there on her own. His witch was devious, there was no doubt, but she just did not have his life time experience of discerning the motivations and cunning in other people.

"Well, whatever I ask of her, for starters," Hermione said chuckling to herself.

"Murder?" Draco said, so quiet she thought she'd misheard him.

"What? Of course not," Hermione retorted, frowning as she mulled over his words.

"Are you certain? What about maim then. Would she maim, to keep her secret? Obliviate a person? Make them disappear?"

With each possibility that Draco provided, Hermione's cocky stature froze, degree by degree, until she was a statue, an ode to confidence and hubris.

"Yes, love. Now you're starting to understand. It's not the blackmail that bothers me, I'm a _Malfoy_ for Salazar's sake. It bothers me that you went to do it, with a woman that has nothing to lose, except for her secret, and you did it _alone_ , without anyone to watch your back. Even Potter had you and the Weasel watching his back…"

"Stop calling Ron names Draco, you know his name perfectly well; use it."

"As you wish, _dear_."

As Hermione contemplated their latest exchange, she recrossed her legs and twisted in her seat, trying to relieve the tension in her spine, not noticing the flash of desire that erupted in Malfoy's eyes as he was treated to the delectable sight of her cleavage and her bare back.

"Alright, I'm sorry. I should have brought you, Harry, or Neville along with me, in retrospect," Hermione hedged, not willing to look him in the eye as she apologized. If she had, she might have noticed the absolutely feral look in his eyes right before he sprang up, grabbing her by the arms and backing her into the corner of their little hide away.

"Ow, Malfoy, what are you -", she couldn't finish her sentence as Draco's tongue assaulted her mouth, breathing passion into her as surely as her heart beat. Not one to be outmatched, Hermione hitched her legs around his waist and threaded her fingers through his hair, changing the angle and deepening the kiss.

"You look _delectable_ in that dress, Granger," Draco breathed in between licks at her bottom lip as he took a slow and steady trip along her jawline, stopping to lap light kisses behind her ear making her gasp.

"I know," she said smugly, smiling as his tongue started doing delicious things to her earlobe.

"But, you see… I feel like it could look better," he murmured, chuckling as she stiffened in his arms. "Like, on the floor, for instance," he finished, releasing the clasp that held the dress in place, stepping back so he could watch the fabric slither down her creamy thighs as it gathered in an expensive pool around her feet.

So focused on the dress was he, that he wasn't prepared for what she was wearing underneath. Looking up at her face, he could see the light of triumph in her eyes, and he knew that this was what she'd been looking for since she started getting dressed that evening.

Hermione stood there in a low backed negligee, with a built in bodice; black laced with a gold satin body that barely covered her nipples which were taught and begging for attention. She still wore her heels and the black patterned stockings that were gartered at her thigh, and she knew she was quite the picture.

Staring back with nothing but reverence, Draco could feel the blood pooling in his lower body. Stepping forward again he pushed her back into the corner, grabbing his wand as an afterthought and putting up any spells he could think of that might leave them undisturbed for the time he needed to unwrap his incredible Christmas present.

Trailing his fingers along the edges of the negligee, he watched as her skin pebbled under his touch, running from her ribs, across her back and all the way up to her neck. He saw her pulse hammering away underneath her creamy white skin and he couldn't resist putting a kiss there, much to Hermione's satisfaction if the purring in his ear was any indication.

He ran his other hand up her leg, discovering that Ms. Granger, embracing her naughty side, had completely foregone knickers this evening. Pulling back from her a little bit, he looked her in the eye with a sardonically raised eyebrow upon his discovery. "Forgetting something, darling? I didn't think we were in such a hurry to get ready this evening that you could have forgotten to put on knickers completely…"

Blushing furiously and biting her bottom lip, she mumbled a reply while trying to bring Draco closer for a kiss, clearly uncomfortable with her motivations.

Evading her grasp by pinning her hands above her head, he began to tease her body mercilessly as he asked her to repeat herself.

"Gods, Draco!" Hermione moaned, unsure of whether she was asking him to stop, or give her more. So much more.

"Answer the question love, and we can continue where we left off…"

"I… I thought that maybe… Dammit! I thought there might be a chance _just like the one we have now_ , to…. To…"

"Shag?" Draco supplied helpfully, enjoying the squirm she had going on, not just from her confession, but from the way he was grinding his hips against hers. "Fuck?" He suggested it with a particularly vigorous thrust that had his length running the entire length of her slit, earning him another expletive from his frustrated witch.

"Making love?" He asked it sweetly this time, releasing her arms and guiding them around his neck as he hitched her back up so that her legs were around his waist, kissing her senseless.

Knowing that he didn't have long, Draco trusted her to keep herself in place with her legs as he gave her rump one last caress before unzipping his trousers and lining himself up with her core. At the moment his tip came into contact with her most sensitive skin, Hermione's eyes opened and he was blown away by the depth of feeling there. He kissed her, with his eyes still open, as he sheathed himself in her in one swift, strong stroke.

 _How do I always feel so full_? Hermione thought to herself as Draco seated himself within her. She was trying desperately to keep her voice down, but the feeling was just… exquisite. Slowly, Draco began to move, an inexorable rhythm, designed to torture and delight. His strokes were so confident, and so firm, bringing her closer and closer to the edge, and he knew it.

He watched her face as the pressure built inside of her, the fact that he knew that it was him that was making her feel that way as heady as the perfume she was wearing; it was like a drug and he was an enthusiastic addict.

The determination on his face as he pumped in and out of her, hard enough to make her backside slap against the wall behind her, his pace steadily increasing like this was the crescendo in the aria he'd written just for her, was something to behold. Determined to play with his iron like control over his own release, Hermione arched her back, moaning silkily and began playing with her nipples that were now just underneath his gaze. Simultaneously, she focused on grasping him with her inner muscles, trying to milk his release from him as she could feel hers coming quickly. A loud hiss and a muttered, "Fuck!" told Hermione she had hit her mark.

As Draco felt Hermione's muscles clench down on him, absolutely surrounding him with friction and warmth, he nearly lost it. Gazing into her eyes again, he saw the mischievousness among the desire and knew she'd done it on purpose. _Two can play at that game Granger,_ he thought to himself as he began to circle his hips slightly with every thrust, ensuring friction at her most sensitive points. " _Ha!"_ he shouted as he felt her muscles quiver with the force of her orgasm, his victory sweet, but short lived as her release demanded that he find his own.

The two of them stood there panting, Draco's hold on Hermione's arse ironclad, foreheads together as they recovered. Eventually, Draco guided Hermione's feet back to the floor, lowering her so that her feet were in the middle of the dress that he'd pooled at her feet. He bent slowly, placing a kiss on her hip, her thigh, and her knee as he picked up the dress, glided it along her now very sensitive skin, doing up the clasps and generally putting her back to rights, before tucking himself back into his pants.

Neither of them said a word; the bliss they were feeling, the casual touches as well as the care they each took in restoring their appearances before they rejoined the party said more than words ever could. Finally, grasping her hand and linking his fingers with hers, Draco raised their joined hands, marveling at how well they seemed to fit, before kissing her hand and leading her back to face their demons.

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 **Thank you SO much to all of our reviewers, and those who read silently and favorite/follow the story! It means the world to us!**


	22. Machinations and Declarations

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N:** Sorry guys! I know it's been a long wait for this chapter, but life took over for me and I wasn't able to write - no matter how much my muse begged! Hoping things will be a bit more balanced now, so you should be able to expect _fairly_ regular updates from now on. I definitely see the end of this story, so worry not, I won't abandon you! Xo Eris (K)

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 **~Chapter 22 - Machinations and Declarations~**

Christmas morning was a sight to behold with thirteen teenagers, two adults and an unknown quantity of house elves. Gifts, ribbon and shredded wrapping paper were strewn everywhere. Ginny, Harry and Hermione were all proudly sporting knitted sweaters that could only have been made by the Weasley matriarch, while Draco was playing with a watch that cost more than Hermione's private school tuition, which could have only come from his mother. The biggest surprise of the morning had been the friendship bracelets made out of intricately woven leather straps, laced together to envelope a stone, specific to each of the recipient's birth month that were given to each of the Hogwarts students, from none other than Neville.

"What's this then, Longbottom?" Draco had said, opening the small black box Neville had tossed in his direction.

"Yeah, Neville, what'd you do, buy me a ring?" Theo quipped, batting his eyelashes in Neville's direction as Neville tossed him his own box and flipped him the finger.

"Sod off, the both of you. Just a little something to remember our time here by, and… well, maybe to remember each other. How we are now, not how we were then, you know?" With that, he'd cleared his throat, shrugged awkwardly, and gone back to sit next to Jess who was looking at him pensively.

The Hogwarts students had all opened their gifts, admired their bracelets and immediately slipped them on, no questions asked and gone back to their morning.

Draco had been looking quite smug about something, and despite Hermione's constant prodding, all he'd say was, "You'll see."

Presents opened, and 'thanks you's' exchanged, Mrs. Mills called them all back into the dining room where the house elves had laid out an incredible Christmas morning feast.

As most of the boys contemplated second helpings, and Mr. Mills made a sad comment about what it is to be young, the largest owl Hermione had ever seen flew in through the side door and perched itself on the back of Draco's chair, easily a foot above his head. The owl promptly dropped a green velvet box into his lap, along with a larger, much more practical looking box and a letter written in a feminine hand. Package delivered, the owl then flew down, grabbed a piece of bacon off of Hermione's plate, and flew away.

"Hey! Ruddy bird, you're lucky I was done…"

"Forgive him, bacon is a particular weakness of his," Draco murmured as he read the letter, his lip curving more and more as he read. Finished reading the letter, he opened the box and admired a pair of silk pyjamas before he summoned a piece of parchment and a quill, and began penning the reply where he sat. As he did, he slid the little green box across the table to where Hermione was sitting and said, "That's for you, Happy Christmas Love!"

"Is this from you?" she asked, confused because he'd already given her a beautiful, leather-bound notebook with a self inking quill that she couldn't wait to start writing in, earlier that morning.

"Technically, it's from my mother, but it was my idea…" Draco said, his face alight with mischief.

Alarmed at receiving a present from Narcissa Malfoy herself, Hermione looked at the box with trepidation. "Open it," Draco urged, eager to see her face when she saw the gift as he handed her the letter he'd received with it. Never one to ignore the card in favor of the gift, Hermione turned her attentions to the elegant script of none other than the formidable Narcissa Malfoy.

 _Dearest Draco,_

 _I hope this letter finds you well. I trust that you are, as you gave me your solemn vow that you would return to me whole and unscathed! I'm hoping that your wretched owl has delivered the package I sent with it, though given its proclivity toward distraction and his willingness to be bribed by anything so long as it's food, I would not be at all surprised to learn that your package was found floating in the Pacific. I do hate the thought of you getting cold at night over there in dreary America, thus I expect these shall keep you warm._

 _I saw that business about you in that poor excuse for a newspaper. Ms. Skeeter is an enterprising woman, but she wouldn't know the truth if someone spiked her punch with veritaserum. I know that you and Mr. Krum both play the position of seeker, but I have no doubt your skills both on and off the pitch will find you victorious in any aspect of life you may choose._

 _Do say hello to Ms. Granger, will you? I look forward to meeting her as I understand she has a great deal to say about the current laws and pureblood customs. Perhaps we could have her to tea at The Gardens? Afterall, given her upbringing she might not have as healthy a grasp of some of the more traditional and wholesome pureblood customs. I'm sure you can help her with that, won't you dear?_

 _I'm sure I've kept you away from your studies for long enough, so I'll leave you with this. A Mother's love knows no bounds my darling boy; I would do_ anything _to see you happy._

 _I love you to the stars you were named after and back,_

 _Mother_

"Alright," she said hesitantly, glancing around to see that no one was paying them any particular attention. In all honesty, her heart was hammering in her chest as her mind digested the words in front of her and she hadn't even opened the box yet. Seeing him fold a piece of parchment and call what was now quite obviously the Malfoy family owl, Hermione put a hand on his arm. "May I read that before you send it?"

Perplexed, but comfortable with his reply, he shrugged and handed her his response.

 _Dearest Mother,_

 _The silk pyjamas were a welcome addition to my wardrobe, but I assure you the nights here in California have been anything but cool - the climate here is quite pleasant and grows warmer by the day._

 _As for the article written by Ms. Skeeter, I assure you her grasp on the truth is anything but firm and her understanding of the situation is cloudier than a day in the Scottish highlands. Mr. Krum and I are less than evenly matched, but I left the pitch victorious and with no hard feelings._

 _Regarding Ms. Granger, she says she would be delighted to speak with you regarding our pureblood traditions, but would prefer somewhere more scenic like the country house I told her about in Leeds. Perhaps after the one year reunion ceremony? Afterall, once our studies are finished we will have nothing but time to travel and do what we please. I daresay we both feel we could use some time away, before our futures beckon._

 _All in good time, Mother._

 _Eternally yours,_

 _Draco_

Stunned, and trying to remember any such conversation with Draco, she opened the box. She couldn't help but gasp as she stared at the gorgeous piece of jewelry she found contained within it. A stunning, yet simple filigree of gold and silver, interspersed every other link with a delicate, blood red, ruby, sat delicately in black satin. Draco picked up the piece and began unclasping it, grasping Hermione's left hand and putting what turned out to be a bracelet around her wrist. Grabbing his wand, Draco cast a quick locking charm, to ensure she never lost it.

Still completely stunned, Hermione looked back at Draco and began trying to take it off. "Please, Draco, no… Take it off," she said quietly, still trying to undo the clasp.

"What? Why? Don't you like it?" Draco demanded, clearly trying to cover his disappointment and hurt with his customary snark.

" _Like it_?" Hermione squeaked, starting to tremble.

"Yes, _like it_ ," Draco snapped, hating that he couldn't read her reaction properly. "Why else would you be trying to take it off despite the fact that you _just saw me spell it closed_?"

"I...I.. It's too much! I can't accept this…" Hermione babbled, trying to get to her wand which was on the table just a bit out of reach.

Sensing trouble, Theo reached across the table and plucked Hermione's wand away from her reach, putting it at the top of his place setting - clearly within Hermione's eye sight, and on the table to indicate he had no intentions of using it, just keeping it out of _her_ hands.

Glaring at him, Hermione took a deep breath and turned her eyes to Draco. "I can't accept this beautiful gift Draco, it's too much and… I haven't even really _met_ your mother. Formally speaking, anyway!"

"What, exactly, does that have to do with fucking _anything_?" Draco asked, his voice icy.

" _Everything!_ " Hermione yelled, clearly reaching the end of her rope. She stood up, thanked Mrs. Mills politely for the meal and made a hasty exit towards her bedroom.

At this point, the entire table had stopped to watch the couple, unclear of what was going on. Well, at least most of them were. Ginny felt like she might have a good idea what was going on, and motioned to Malfoy to leave it. As she got up from the table, thanked the Mills for the meal, she stopped by Draco's chair, putting a hand on his shoulder and speaking to him softly.

"I think I know what's happening here. Please, try not to take this personally until you hear her side of the story? I'll talk to her and call you when I'm ready. Watch for my patronus." Draco nodded curtly while staring at his empty plate, feeling numb and rejected.

As Ginny climbed the stairs, she marshalled her thoughts. She knew that the relationship between Draco and Hermione had been getting serious, but she'd had no idea it was _this_ serious. Frankly, she didn't know if Malfoy knew how serious it was if he was ready to drop an heirloom like that on Hermione's wrist so nonchalantly, and that was part of the problem.

Knocking on Hermione's door, Ginny ignored the pissy, "Go away!" that came from the other side of the door, marching right in and sitting on the bed next to Hermione. Peaking out from under her elbow that she held over her eyes, Hermione said, "Oh, it's you," before dropping it back in place, shielding her eyes from view.

" _Thaaaaat's_ nice," Ginny said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "What went on down there exactly?"

"His mother gave me a bracelet," Hermione murmured, sticking her hand in Ginny's face as if she could miss the item in question, which was currently catching the light from the nearby window, reflecting an ethereal light all over the room.

"I gathered," Ginny replied with a grin on her ruddy features. "What I can't quite put my finger on, is why the presentation of priceless heirlooms has turned you into a dizzy broad, who hurt her man's feelings without even thinking about it."

That last word had barely left Ginny's lips when Hermione sat bolt upright in bed, staring daggers at her friend. "I didn't _mean_ to hurt his feelings, I'm just… I'm bloody overwhelmed, OK? Draco and I have been together for _months_ , not years, _months_ , and he's giving me a bracelet that costs more than all the money I've had to my name throughout my entire life. You don't do that to someone you're not…" she broke off, still unwilling to put a name to what was going on.

"Someone you're not in love with?" Ginny suggested, smiling brightly. Hermione's eyes bugged out of her skull, and she turned to bury herself in the blankets. "Oooooh, no you don't," Ginny grunted, fighting to grab Hermione's wrists before she could burrow into the bedding like a tick. "Why the hell has the idea of being in love with Malfoy got you so twisted up?" Ginny ground out through clenched teeth, noting with irony that it was the bedsheets that she'd used to subdue Hermione, trussing her up, all frustrated and sweaty from their struggle. _I need to remember this for later_ , Ginny found herself thinking, daydreaming about Jake and Sarah.

Shaking her head to break herself out of her reverie, Ginny gave Hermione a stern look. "Promise to stop trying to hide from me?" Hermione nodded meekly, holding her bound wrists out to her friend. Undone and sitting on the bed next to Ginny, Hermione began trying to get her thoughts in line.

"Do you think Draco realizes how his mother meant this?" Hermione said, gesturing to the bracelet.

"Meant what? A bracelet?" Ginny said, completely confused.

Exasperated, Hermione fixed her friend with a completely annoyed expression. "Seriously? You're from a pureblood family, how can you _not_ know?"

"Know _what?_ " Ginny demanded, not used to having her own heritage thrown in her face.

"In the pureblood tradition, an heirloom piece of jewelry, typically a necklace, or a bracelet, is given to a man's… intended."

"Intended? What does that even _mean_ Hermione? The girl he's shagging? Because that's you, so…"

" _Bride_ ," Hermione gritted out through her teeth and Ginny's jaw dropped. "Yes, that's more the reaction I was expecting the first time around. Nice try on the recovery though," Hermione grumbled, irritated at having to spell it out.

As Ginny tried to contemplate the inner workings of Malfoy's mind, Kate came breezing into the room, followed shortly by Sarah, Jess and Pansy. "Does anybody bloody _knock_ anymore?" Hermione demanded, watching as her friends surrounded her on the bed.

"Not in my own damn house," Kate responded practically, getting comfortable near the headboard. "Why are you all bent out of shape that Draco gave you arm candy?"

Hermione just blinked owlishly as all of her friends regarded her with confusion, turning to Ginny and motioning her to tell them, as she buried her face in a nearby pillow.

Never one to mince words, Ginny put the whole thing out there in one blunt, and in Hermione's opinion, fairly horrifying, statement. "Hermione has apparently unearthed some pureblood mating rituals book, no doubt dated before the invention of the calendar, that states that a piece of jewelry like the one Malfoy's mum gave her, means she's supposed to marry the bloke."

Sarah had been sipping on a glass of what looked like sparkling water and promptly choked on it, Jess pounding her on the back as water spluttered out of her mouth, dribbling down her chin as she stared in open-mouthed shock between Hermione and Ginny. Wiping her mouth, she felt compelled to ask, "How do you even know that that's what his mother intended? I'm from a pureblood family and I've never heard of this in my life." She looked around at Kate and Jess, who both nodded vigorously, clearly trying to cheer up their friend. It even worked for a moment until a loud snort came from the other side of the bed. The girls turned to look at Pansy who was examining her manicure with a devilish smile on her face.

"I'm sorry, we are talking about _Narcissa Malfoy_ , are we not?" she asked airily, raising an eyebrow.

"See, that's what _I_ thought!" Hermione cried, throwing her head back down on the pillow.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kate demanded, unclear why this should explain anything.

"Narcissa Malfoy is the single-handedly most aristocratic, regal and _pureblood_ woman on the planet. There isn't a custom she doesn't know, and a rule she won't exploit. Especially when it comes to Draco…"

"So you're suggesting that she did this on purpose?" Sarah asked, eyeing Hermione speculatively.

"Of course she bloody did," Hermione spat, sitting up again. "You should have seen the freaking coded message that she sent Draco with it! I didn't get any of it, but the smirk on Draco's face was enough…"

"Did she mention The Gardens?"

"Yes," Hermione whispered with great trepidation.

At this, Pansy whooped loudly and started laughing maniacally. "Would you kindly explain to the class?" Kate drawled, thoroughly nonplussed at having been left out of the conversation.

"In wizarding Britain, specifically pureblood society, The Gardens is _the_ place to hold an engagement party. It's where women of noble birth 'come out' with their intended!" Pansy said, struggling unsuccessfully to contain her mirth at Hermione's evident discomfort.

"There's that bloody word again, 'intended'. This conversation is _intended_ to drive me mental," Ginny muttered. _How come my parents never tell me these things?_ she wondered.

"Do you think Draco knows all of this?" Jess asked, sympathetically rubbing circles on Hermione's back.

At this, Pansy sobered considerably and considered whether, or not her childhood friend knew about these traditions. "Well, he likely _knows_ about the tradition, but the jewelry? I'm not sure. And even if he knows about the traditions in the theoretical sense, I find it highly unlikely that he's associating them with what he's doing in real life. Those blasted blood purity lessons were always something we thought of in the abstract - we were children for Circe's sake!"

"OK," Kate started practically, standing to pace. "So, it's conceivable that while Mrs. Malfoy knows exactly what she's trying to do, that Draco doesn't. So, he might just think his mother's being kind?"

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far," Pansy drawled, once again looking at her manicure. "Ow!" she hissed as Sarah reached across Hermione's still buried in the blankets form to smack her. "What? He likely knows his mother has _intentions_ where Hermione's concerned. He just hasn't associated the import of the gift. Did he draft a response back?"

"Yes!" Hermione said, sitting bolt upright and grasping Pansy by the sleeve. "Why, is that important?"

"Errr… well, the contents of it would reveal a lot," Pansy started as Hermione jumped up and started pacing at the end of the bed.

"Remember, remember, _remember!_ " she was muttering to herself, gripping her hair and tugging furiously.

Sarah was looking anxiously at Ginny, asking her silently what to do as the redhead watched on and wondered the same thing, when a male voice started reciting aloud.

"Dearest Mother, the silk pyjamas…" and Draco continued to read the letter from memory, staring at Hermione who was blank with shock, wringing her hands in front of her.

When he finished, the room was pregnant with an awkward silence, the girls glances moving quickly between Draco and Hermione, before Kate cleared her throat.

"Alright ladies, I think we need to give them the room…"

All too ready to comply, the girls scrambled off the bed, looking over their shoulders to give Hermione encouraging smiles, and Jess even sending her a big thumbs up before she closed the door behind her.

"I… I didn't hear you come in," Hermione started, still trying to read his expression.

"Yes, I do believe that's quite clear," Draco said quietly, hands in his pockets as he regarded her. "Would you care to explain to me what's going on? My mother gave you a gift, and it's apparently sent you into a dizzying spell of panic."

"It's not _panic_ ," Hermione started, trying to explain. When his eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline, she made an amendment, "OK, well not complete panic…"

"Right."

"Do you not see what this is like for me?" Hermione asked, her tone matching his. "I know the customs Draco, I can see what's going on here, and I don't even know how you feel about me!"

At this Draco's mouth dropped open in genuine shock. His mind raced backwards over their time together and he couldn't possibly understand how she didn't know. "You don't _know_ how I feel about you?"

"No… not… not really. I mean, I know you're fond of me, and… and we get along really well," she hedged, wringing her hands together again so fiercely he swore he could hear her bones grinding against one another.

" ' _Get along really well_ '..."

"Well yes, I mean, we enjoy spending time with one another, and… we've come to an understanding about… about our physical relationship, but - "

" _Physical relationship?_ "

"Would you stop repeating everything that I say!?"

"I would if you would stop being completely and utterly ridiculous."

If there was one thing that Hermione hated it was being called ridiculous. The way she was feeling was not ridiculous, and her conversation with her friends had proved that. _Hadn't it?_ she thought.

"It's _not_ ridiculous!" she snapped, letting loose the tide of emotions she'd been keeping dammed up inside of her from the moment she started reading his mother's words. "I know you think I couldn't possibly understand what's going on here, because I'm just some… some… _commoner_. Some _Muggleborn_ , but I happen to know exactly what this means," she yelled, as she waved the bracelet in front of his face.

"The bracelet?" he demanded, his expression cautious.

"Yes, the damn _bracelet!_ " she yelled back, no longer capable of even pretending to be civil. "And Pansy has just informed me of the significance of The Gardens, which just bloody confirms the whole thing, now doesn't it? You haven't even told me you _love me_ , but we're supposed to be fucking _intended_?"

Draco's mind was processing this information far too slowly for his liking, and providing incredibly unhelpful tidbits of information, like how pretty Hermione's hair looked when it was backlit that way by the sun shining through the window behind her. How she played with the cuff of her sleeve when incredibly irritated, so much so that they started to wear there. That he could see the marks in her lip where she'd been chewing on it as she stewed over his mother's gesture. _Now is hardly the time, mate, now fucking say something!_ he thought to himself, viciously shaking his head to clear it.

"Hermione, sit down."

"No."

"Granger, for fucks sake, _sit down_."

"Fine," she relented, petulantly flopping down on the end of the bed.

"First, I'll apologize," he started, noting how quickly her eyes flew to his, glancing at him from what she thought was the cover of her fringe. "I didn't know that you knew this much about our customs, and therefore I hadn't thought to warn you about it."

"So, you admit that's what's going on here, that that's what your mother intends?"

"I… I admit that my mother is old fashioned, and dedicated to the pureblood ways. I'll admit that she's thrilled that I'm so happy, and knows that the reason for that happiness is largely you. I'll also admit, that when she suggested jewelry for Christmas, that I thought of that piece immediately and asked her if I could have it."

Hermione thought she couldn't have been more shocked than she had been earlier; apparently she was wrong.

"But… but…"

"I'm not finished," he interrupted firmly, silencing her with a look.

"My mother would _love_ for us to get married, as quickly as possible, and start popping out all kinds of grandchildren," he started, pausing to silence her again when she gave a rather undignified squeak. "But, as you undoubtedly missed in my reply, I said no. Or, at least, not now."

"You… you did?" Hermione asked, unsure whether, or not she should be happier with his handling of the situation, or the fact that he'd thought that far into the future. _Their_ future.

"Yes. Discussions with my mother are never forthright and almost always happen with some sort of undercurrent, or subtext. By suggesting we use the country house in Leeds, instead of The Gardens, I told her that we don't have any plans to become engaged any time soon. By telling her that we would meet with her after the reunion ceremony, because after we have graduated we will have _nothing but time to do as we please_ , I was politely telling her to butt out. That being said, I wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to provide you with a gift that I've been thinking about giving you for weeks when it presented itself."

Absolutely dumbfounded about how convoluted a simple conversation could be between mother and son, Hermione could say nothing, but, "Oh."

"Quite," Draco said, a small, wry smile appearing on his lips. "Though, it's so comforting to know that the knowledge that I might someday, or even today, want to marry you, was so terrifying as to send you fleeing from my very presence," he said sarcastically, looking quite hurt.

Hermione was at his side in a second, grabbing his face in both hands. "Draco, that's not what that was. _Please_ know that that's not what that was."

"Then what was it?" he asked, so, so quietly.

"I… I just… Everything is moving so fast. I didn't even have an idea that you were thinking like this, about… about me. I… How was I to know dammit!?"

"I _love_ you, Hermione!" he snapped, his hands now holding both of her wrists where her hands framed his face.

"Yes love, I do believe I gathered that, but that's the first time you've actually _said_ it. So pardon my confusion when you were slapping a thousand galleon bracelet on my wrist intended as a marriage proposal," Hermione said softly, smiling into his frustrated gaze. "Oh, and by the way? I love you too."

Draco was floored. Had he really never said it until now? He'd thought it enough times, he was sure of it. _How could I be so stupid?_

"I… Hermione, I'm so sorry. I thought… I thought it was clear. That _I_ had been clear."

"Well it's clear now!" she said laughing, kissing him happily.

"Do you really like it?" he asked, still vaguely embarrassed at the oversight, linking his hands with hers so that he could bring the bracelet up for a closer look, making the room dance with the reflected light.

"Draco, I love it," Hermione whispered, still not used to looking at something so exquisite on her body. "This isn't an engagement _anything_ though, right? We've only been dating two months, I'm not sure I could explain that to anyone…"

"It's not, no," Draco said seriously, looking down at her again, "but I… well, I've thought about it, you should know."

Hermione stopped breathing in that moment, lost in his eyes.

"You understand me so completely, you don't treat me like I'm broken, or diseased. You… you defend me, you laugh with me… you love me," he said simply. "I can't imagine my life without you in it."

Hermione stayed quiet for a minute, legitimately trying to picture a future for herself that didn't have Draco in it, teasing her, laughing with her, making love to her. She couldn't, so she said as much.

"I can't picture a life without you in it either."

With that, the two held hands, and went to join their friends who, as they reached the top of the staircase, started clapping loudly, whistling and generally making a ruckus as Ginny tried to tuck away the several pairs of extendable ears they'd clearly all been eavesdropping with.

"'Bout time you two," Jake teased with a grin, one arm around Sarah and the other around Ginny.

"Amen to _that_ ," Kate laughed, as she grabbed two glasses of champagne from her father, handing one to Harry.

"Congratulations, you two!" Mrs. Mills cheered, handing them each their own glass.

"To young love," she said, staring intently at her husband.

"May it bring you endless joy," he finished.


	23. Something Wicked This Way Comes

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.

 **A/N:** Sadly, much the same author's note as last time. Life has gotten incredibly busy, and I've just not been finding them time to write. Here's an extra long chapter so nobody revolts? As always, your reviews spur me on, so please leave us a little comment on how you like the chapter. Xo Eris (K)

* * *

 **Chapter 23 - Something Wicked This Way Comes**

On the day after Christmas, they were curled up in front of a glorious fire, charmed to the perfect heat by none other than Jake, in the living room of the Mills Estate. Ben and Chris were playing a nasty game of wizard's chess; Chris seeming to enjoy leading Ben into a false sense of security, only to laugh maniacally when he'd come from behind and win in the end. Ben was equally determined to shove a win down his throat, so they'd been at it for hours.

Neville walked up to Jess, who was snuggled up in an oversized chair that looked like it would swallow her whole, reading a book. Several of the others in the room looked up at his entrance, quizzical looks on their faces given his peacoat, hat and mittens in the warm room. He leaned down and whispered in Jess' ear and whatever he said to her had her grinning from ear to ear with a pleased flush to her cheeks. She nodded shyly, and made a quick exit from the room.

"What are you up to Longbottom?" Draco drawled lazily from the couch where Hermione was leaning with her back against his chest as they both read Shakespeare; he was reading _Othello_ , while she decided on something a little more lighthearted, _A Midsummer Night's Dream_.

"None of your business, Malfoy," he replied with a wink. He turned as Jess entered the room, like a homing pigeon on true north and the couple headed out into the foyer, now both dressed for a winter outing.

"He's not going to take her out for a snowball fight, is he?" Malfoy asked, completely skeptical.

Hermione snorted. "Draco, did you see the look on her face when he spoke to her? No girl on the _planet_ gets that look on her face at the mention of a _snowball fight_."

"Ah, see? I get all sentimental when you start sounding like an insufferable know-it-all. Really brings me back…" He broke off as Hermione put an elbow in his soft parts in an attempt to turn in his lap and smack him. Satisfied with her results, even if they were unintentional, she settled back into her book, with one ear on the foyer, waiting for the couple to return.

OoOoO

Neville snuck a look under his lashes at the woman walking beside him. Jess, his witch. He looked at her cheeks, pleasantly flushed from the chill, but not the type of red that signaled she was too cold for a walk. He noticed her chafing her hands together, so he took one of them and put it in her pocket, and tucked the other one in the crook of his arm, clasping it with his other hand to keep it warm from all sides. She smiled up at him, acknowledging the irony that she was willing to indulge his protective streak at the moment.

This was partly why they were out here; Neville felt like it was time for Jess to understand why he was so protective, why he was such a stick in the mud when it came to fast cars, motorcycles, and getting wasted in bars in unfamiliar places. They'd come to heads a couple of times over the course of their relationship, Neville completely unwilling to compromise, and Jess just completely at a loss as to why. _It's not fair to her_ , he thought to himself. _She's been so patient with me, she's never asked me why I am the way I am, she's just gone with it. I owe her more than that._

"So, not that I'm complaining at getting out of the house, or going for a walk on such a beautiful winter day, but… why are we out here Neville?" As always, Jess cut straight to the heart of the matter – she'd cut straight to the heart of him right from the beginning. Right from the very first time she sat beside him, rubbed his back, and told him he didn't need to explain because they were friends, and friends didn't need to ask questions.

"Well… I figured it's time I did some explaining about why I... am, the way I am." He paused, marshalling his words and trying to beat his brain into providing an explanation that didn't make light of the issue, but didn't completely terrify her either. It was more than enough that one of them had nightmares.

"Back home, when things got… tough," he started, hoping he would get his rhythm at some point. He looked down at her walking next to him and saw a look of utter openness; a willingness to listen without interrupting. It steadied him more than he believed it could, and he sent her a warm smile and a silent nod of thanks.

"It wasn't just tough, it was a war," he stated bluntly, figuring ripping the bandage off was better than dragging it inch by sticky inch. "A man named Voldemort…" and he paused, waiting for the characteristic flinch that typically accompanied the name both from himself, and the person hearing it. He was surprised to note that he didn't flinch anymore, and of course, neither did she.

"He terrorized the whole of wizarding Britain, and the Muggle population too actually. He thought that anyone that wasn't a Pure-Blood wizarding family, was complete rubbish. He claimed that Muggle-borns stole their magic, and tried to have them rounded up and jailed by creating a Muggle-born Registration Committee. He infiltrated our government, he tortured and killed people to get what he wanted…"

Jess stopped and pulled Neville until he stopped next to her. He couldn't look at her and she didn't like it, so she pulled his chin until he was forced to look into her eyes. What he saw there made his heart hurt; a physical ache in his chest. Somehow, she seemed to know that the last sentence was personal to him. She _knew,_ and she conveyed sympathy and heartbreak without ever crossing the line into pity.

"His followers tortured my parents with the Cruciatus Curse until they were insane when I was still in nappies. My grandmother looked after me…"

"Oh Neville…"

"That's not why I'm telling you though. When we were at school, in our last year at Hogwarts, Voldemort installed members of his inner circle as teachers there. They tortured students, and forced upper years to torture first years for marks. They used propaganda to turn those who could be, and to frighten the rest into silence. I did what I could to keep them safe, I did what I could to bring as many of them out of the line of fire as I could…"

"Shhhhhh…. Shhh, Neville, it's alright. I know you did everything you could love."

"But I couldn't save them all…" he spat, breathing heavily as he remembered the helplessness, the screams of those he couldn't protect.

"Neville, you were what, seventeen?" Jess asked gently, her hand rubbing his arm.

"Yeah, something like that…"

"Why was it _your_ job to save everyone? Where were the adults?" she demanded, hoping that a change of tone would snap him out of whatever self-flagellation he had going on here.

"The professors helped me too, but if they were outwardly seen to be sympathetic with the resistance, they'd risk getting sacked and being of no help at all. It was really the most horrible of situations and everyone did the best they could!" he interjected, defensive of his professors. The ones like McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick who sent house elves with supplies to the Room of Requirement; who transfigured bath towels into duvets, and charmed an alarm to sound whenever one of the Death Eaters was outside the corridor.

Jess laid her hand on his arm in quiet reassurance. "I'm not blaming _anyone_ Nev, I'm just saying it wasn't completely up to _you._ "

"I think I know that, but it didn't feel like that at the time…"

"I'm sure it didn't," Jess murmured, starting to walk again, her eyes locked on Neville's face.

"I just… I did my part to bring that man down, and we did it. Harry did it. He killed that sadistic psychopath at serious personal risk. I helped him, and I fought in that terrible, terrible battle. It's what I see in my nightmares…" He shot her a sidelong glance, seeing as the information hit home, and she realized with horror that the nightmares she'd been calming him from where a whole new level of terrifying than she had imagined.

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"Because you're so… so… _aware_! You're cottoning on to the fact that I'm not normal, and it isn't fair for me to keep it from you. I only did because it's not just my story to tell - Harry, Hermione, Draco… we all had a part to play in this war, and we all carry our scars. Part of this year was about escaping all the utter shite being said and done back home. But most of all, I'm telling you because… because… I love you," he said softly, holding his breath as he waited for her reaction.

Jess stayed very, very still. She could swear that she didn't even breathe for what felt like an eternity as she heard the words her heart had been waiting to hear for at least as long. When she was certain he'd actually said them, she looked up into his face and saw the breadth of his emotion there. She saw his love for her and the reason behind his fierce protectiveness.

"I love you too," she said, jumping into his arms with enough force to topple them both into the snow, and kissing him soundly on the mouth.

"Oh Merlin, am I ever glad to hear you say that…" Neville said, breathless both from catching her weight on his chest as they fell, as well as the searing kiss she'd laid on him at the bottom.

"Were you worried I wouldn't?" she asked, confused how he could have misread her feelings for him.

"It's not that I wasn't necessarily sure how you felt about me," he hedged, seeing her confusion and hoping he hadn't offended her in some way. "I just didn't know if it would be enough to counter my… quirks."

"Quirks!?" she said, astounded by his choice of vocabulary. "Nev, wearing your socks inside out because you don't like the seams on your toes, is a quirk. Insisting that I walk on your right side down a sidewalk, so that if an oncoming vehicle does something stupid it hits you, instead of me, is pathological."

He continued looking at her, his face carefully blank, hiding any and all emotion behind a façade. She could tell he was waiting, waiting for her to turn away from him. She grabbed his face in both hands, so that he couldn't turn away from her.

"Nev, I love you. I do, but you have to know that this protective streak isn't completely normal, or healthy. You had a panic attack after saving me in the greenhouse. You jumped in front of an unknown spell shot at your friends. Your head looks like it's on a swivel when we go out in public! No one should have to be that alert all the time. Isn't it exhausting?"

"It is. It really, really is…" he said finally, shoulder slumping under the weight of his emotion, and his complete and utter fatigue.

"Have you talked to anyone about it? Besides me, and the others I mean…. Like, a professional?"

It was Neville's turn to look uncomfortable, and he shrugged his shoulders like his coat was too tight. "I'm not crazy Jess, I just… like to watch out for people, alright?"

"No, it's not alright!" she yelled at him, irritated by the false brevity he was trying to attach to the whole thing. "You likely have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Neville! That is _not_ something that just… goes away on it's own. You need counseling. _Therapy._ You need to talk to someone who knows more about it than I bloody well do, because you're a teenager and it's about fucking time you started acting like one!" She was breathless at the end of her little tirade, relieved at being able to let loose the pent up frustration she had around his behavior.

"Perhaps… you'd come with me?" he asked, completely sheepish.

"Given the vehemence of my last little outburst, I'd say that is a swell idea. Now come on, I'm all wet."

" _You're_ all wet, _I_ was on the bottom, thank you very much…"

She giggled, picked up a bunch of snow and stuffed it down his collar. Completely surprised, he dumped Jess unceremoniously in the snow and hopped from foot to foot trying to jiggle the snow out of his shirt.

"You little _vixen_ ," he murmured, ducking low to grab his own handful of snow as Jess shrieked and ran towards the house. "You better get ready, because I assure you, my aim is spectacular – I had lots of practice!" he joked.

Jess wondered if he'd even realized he'd just made a joke about his time during the war, or that he'd not even asked her not to share any of the details he'd let escape. _Isn't love grand?_

Behind the trees, a pair of eyes looked out at the couple, and seethed with anger, their whole body white hot with rage.

OoOoO

Unfortunately, their peace was ill fated as an owl came in with two copies of The Daily Prophet, dropping them both in Hermione's lap as she lounged with her copy of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_.

"Two?" she asked, paying the owl with what was left on her tea tray.

"Yesterday was Christmas, maybe they're running a special edition?" Pansy said offhand, engrossed in her issue of Vogue while changing her nail colors every other second with her wand.

"Well that can't be good," Draco mumbled, recalling the events from the previous evening and Hermione's run-in with Rita Skeeter.

"She wouldn't," Hermione dared, with far more confidence than she felt.

"She _would_ it seems," Draco drawled, admiring the almost full page spread of Hermione and him dancing at the Christmas ball, the piece coalescing as the final picture showed what he thought had been a discreet kiss.

Harry groaned, loudly, as he came up behind the couple and saw the pictures dancing across the page with the headline "Golden Girl Ditches Duo for Draco". Hermione growled, actually _growled_ at the paper, crumpling the whole thing up into a ball and throwing it at the fireplace. Ever the Chaser, Ginny palmed the paper out of the air and flattened it so that she could get a look, careful of Jake and Sarah trying to look over her shoulder, in case the words "Death Eater" appeared too easily in the article. After reading the first paragraph, Ginny tossed the article over her shoulder into the fire with an impressive string of epithets for the author.

Just then, an ear piercing shriek sounded from the courtyard and every Hogwarts student within ear shot was immediately on their feet, wands drawn.

"It just keeps bloody coming, doesn't it?" Theo wondered aloud, looking around at his friends. Harry, who'd been closest to the window peered out cautiously, ignoring the peculiar looks from the WAM students at their behavior. As Harry's shoulders relaxed, Hermione and Draco visibly calmed, while Theo had started rubbing the tension out of Pansy's shoulders.

"It's Jess," Harry noted with a laugh. "Neville just hit her square in the face with a snowball."

"He did _what_?" Hermione asked, seemingly outraged at Neville's apparent lack of chivalry.

"Oh, she's giving it back in kind, and then some," Harry chuckled, loving seeing Neville so relaxed and just having fun.

"Still, it doesn't seem even remotely… Neville."

"What do you know of it Granger?" Draco teased, nudging her shoulder with his own. Before she could resist, he'd cast a quick Accio for their winter things and was dragging her outside as she quickly pulled them on in self defense against the brisk winter weather.

"What do you think you're doing, Malfoy?" she asked, narrowing her eyes in deep suspicion.

"Oh nothing, love. _I'm_ not doing a damn thing."

And with that, Jess up-ended the bucket full of snow she had charmed to sit over Hermione's head, just waiting for Draco to give the OK.

To Hermione's credit, she didn't shriek. She did however take a moment to wipe the snow out of her eyes before launching herself headlong at Draco, practically burying him in a snowbank and then ran for cover.

Theo and Pansy were tumbling out of the front foyer, half in and out of their jackets, already scooping up snow and taking aim at each other, and anyone within reach. Sarah and Ginny were sitting on either side of Jake, launching a melee as Jake made snowballs as fast as his hands and wand could to keep them well supplied.

Chris took fire at Ben as he came out of the front door to get a lay of the land, hitting his target square in the chest.

"Oh, game _on_ ," Ben yelled as he used a bit of wandless magic to charm the snow into a ball that he grabbed mid stride and launched it at a now rapidly fleeing Chris.

Pandemonium ensued as an every man for himself battle soon became a sided affair. Kate, Harry, and Chris were bunkered down behind a makeshift wall of snow that they had spent time creating by hand, just for the fun of it. Pansy, Theo, and Ben were hiding deep within an outcropping of pine trees that afforded them enough cover to avoid being hit, while still giving them a good vantage point of each of the other groups below. Neville and Jess had made peace somewhere along the lines and were now holed up together in an igloo that Jess had created using some truly fancy wand work.

That left Hermione and Draco, both of whom were still stubbornly trying to stick it out alone. Draco, who was more than comfortable being sly and cagey, wasn't completely sure that going up against his current bed partner, and one of the smartest and strategic people he's ever known was the smartest idea.

"Oi, Granger! Truce?"

"Now why would I do that?" she asked, from the completely opposite direction he was sure she had been in.

"Come on, love. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so to speak?"

"Afraid Malfoy?" Again, the voice came at him from a distance far closer than he'd thought she was, and from the south, not the north.

Suddenly, Hermione was right behind him and had shoved handfuls of snow down his collar. Draco emitted a sound that was seriously close to a screech as he tried, and failed, to get the snow out from against his skin. Taking pity on him, Hermione held him in place and removed his scarf, casting a drying charm on it and his upper body, before retying it around his neck and giving him a kiss on the nose.

"Terrified," he said finally, his ego only mildly soothed by the kiss and her affection for him now.

Hermione got an idea, she grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him to the other side of the driveway, where no one had thought to go, "Come on, let's have a little fun of our own."

Draco smirked, wiggling his eyebrows at her. When he was met with nothing but an eye roll, he pouted as he realized that was not what she had meant. The side of the lawn they were on had fresh piles of snow left untouched. Waving her wand, the snow began to ball itself until Hermione had a decent pile of snowballs. Draco started to laugh and do the same - they were a witch and a wizard after all. Once they had enough ammunition for a small army, Hermione grabbed his hand again and lifted her wand. The small balls of snow levitated into the air and they snuck back over to their friends.

"You surround us with a protection spell and I'll launch the snow balls," she whispered to Draco with a grin. Somehow none of their friends noticed that they had stopped fighting each other and had joined the war. Draco nodded and cast the spell. Once they were safe behind the wall of his enchantment, Hermione began the assault. Thirty snowballs went pelting after their friends; no one was safe. The trio were the first to give up, Sarah and Ginny squealing as they ran, hands in the air, until they were behind Draco and Hermione. Harry got a few in the face trying to protect Kate while she and Chris tried to launch their own volley, but they were no match for the pure onslaught of icy retribution that was raining down on them from the other side.

"Do you want to continue trying to attack us, or do you concede before I launch the rest?" Hermione barked out to her friends with an evil grin. The remaining duelers took a moment to think it over and a few like Theo, Pansy and Ben raised their snow filled hands in defence. Draco wagged an eyebrow and lifted his own wand as another sixty to eighty balls of snow raised into the air. With the sight of the newest onslaught of all the little bullets of snow, every last one of their friends dropped their own snowy armaments and raised their hands in surrender. Draco started to laugh, grabbing Hermione around the waist and giving her a kiss.

"Now I know why Potter needed you last year - you are _brilliant,_ " Draco whispered, his hot breath tickling her cold ear. Hermione giggled and kissed him soundly, their charmed snowballs falling to the ground around them.

"Alright lovebirds, knock it off," Kate scolded and walked up to her kissing friends. "'Mione, you don't play fair!"

"All's fair in love and war?" Hermione laughed.

All the boys looked each other in the eye and said "Amen," simultaneously. Kate snorted loudly, muttering about the sanctity of friendship and womanhood.

Hermione laughed again. "Well, Draco must be rubbing off on me, I believe I did Salazar Slytherin proud today," she said grinning with far too much pride for Harry's liking.

"I think we all know that Draco's been rubbing off on you..." Kate sniggered.

Draco put his arm around Hermione's shoulders and smirked. "Yes I have, and she enjoys it very much, thanks."

Hermione blushed slightly, glad no one could really tell because all their faces were already pink from being outside on such a cold day.

"Yes, yes Draco," Theo drawled, "we all know about your talents with your broomstick."

"Yes, we do," Ginny agreed, "it was all over the castle, Slytherin Sex God and all. I think Pansy started it."

The Hogwarts students started laughing. "Yeah, OK, can I help it if he's good? Was I supposed to keep it to myself?" Pansy asked.

Hermione laughed. "Pans, we've known you for seven years, you can't keep anything to yourself."

"So Hermione, how true is the Sex God rumor," Kate asked with a smirk.

"True enough," Hermione answered quickly with a grin. "Aren't your parents waiting for us? It's cold out here, let's go in."

Kate laughed at her friend's quick answers, noticing it wasn't ignored, but it wasn't fully answered either. _Oh well, progress is progress_ , she thought.

"Am I interrupting something?" a voice called from the stairs leading from the front foyer.

Draco, who'd been kissing Hermione soundly as she grinned widely, allowing him to dip her perilously close to the snow, froze, and narrowly avoided dumping her in the snow.

The laugh on Hermione's lips died as she looked frantically for Harry and Ginny, hoping against hope that the voice she heard behind her, was not, in fact, that of Ronald Weasley.

"Well, 'ello, 'ello! How's it going then? George Weasley's the name. I'm Ginny's much older, and much more handsome brother," George said, cutting through the tension with his casual humor, introducing himself to the WAM students.

"Are you the guy who sent Ginny all those fireworks?" Ben asked, intrigued by the tall redhead.

"Why yes, yes I am!" George said proudly, beaming at the young man in front of him. "Why, you interested in a career my young friend?"

"As a matter of fact…" Ben started, then noticed the 'temperature' of the room, so to speak. "Errr… why don't we talk about that later?"

"Why not now? Never a better time for business than _now_ ," George said, plainly wanting to ignore the tension and sour looks going on between Ron and his friends.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked plainly, surprised and it seemed, a little irritated at what Draco thought was his best friends' arrival.

At the question, Ron threw a copy of what had to be the latest issue of The Daily Prophet at Harry, who caught it deftly, but didn't bother to read it.

"Thought I might come check out if you're all OK, since Skeeter was clearly printing 'a load of _bollocks'_ about our best friend," Ron spat, using air quotes.

"Mate, I told you everything was fine. We're _fine_ ," Harry insisted, trying to insert himself between Ron and Hermione.

"Aye, I see that everyone's _fine_ ," Ron snapped. "Mind explaining what 'Mione's doing snogging the Slytherin King and the most infamous Death Eater then?"

Pansy, Theo and Draco all drew breath very slowly, squaring their shoulders and metaphorically preparing for battle. Ginny's eyes narrowed into slits, while Hermione gasped at this casual use of the term.

"Hermione is none of your business, _mate_ ," Harry said, trying once again to turn Ron in the opposite direction, moving him away from the audience that was so clearly and raptly following the entire conversation.

"You're bloody wrong about that, _mate,_ " Ron replied, not budging an inch, staring coldly in Hermione's direction. "Hermione's my best friend. She's… she's… mine. _Ours_."

"I beg your pardon?" Hermione demanded quietly. To the outside observer, it was a simple question, delivered nonchalantly, out of sheer shock and confusion. To anyone who knew Hermione well, it was a warning shot, delivered just shy of the port bow. Obviously, Ron was not someone who knew Hermione very well.

"We… You and I, we mean something to each other. I've always known we'd end up together. I can't believe you'd go off and snog this complete waste of space, when you know it's us who ends up together!" Ron yelled, gesturing wildly in Malfoy's direction.

Draco, whose gaze was moving quickly between Harry, Ron and Hermione, was finding it more and more difficult to not interject on Hermione's behalf, but one look at her face indicated that this was not wise, if one valued their privates, or their life.

"We 'end up' together?" Hermione asked, using air quotes of her own, taking a small step in Ron's direction, while Draco moved slightly behind her, putting his hand on her waist.

This appeared to have been the wrong move, for the steam that seemed to roll from Ron's ears was almost visible to the naked eye.

"Get your hands off her, you fucking despot scum!" Ron sneered, drawing his wand. As Draco and Harry quickly stepped in front of Hermione, or tried to, as she fought viciously to get at Ron, the rest of the Hogwarts and WAM students quickly formed a phalanx, with Hermione at it's center. Hermione, completely capable of defending herself, was incensed at this behavior and her inability to get at her target without hurting one of her friends.

"Well that escalated quickly," Theo quipped, wand drawn, his weight evenly distributed on the balls of his feet, ready to strike.

"Let me _through_!" Hermione yelled, using what physical strength she had to bully her friends into compliance, all to no avail.

Ron, who hadn't failed to notice the defensive maneuver, nor Harry's part in it, was completely gobsmacked. "What the fuck is this?" Ron demanded, eyeing Harry with the utmost betrayal.

"This is Hermione's friends standing up for her against an asshole they don't even really know, bud," Jake said, twirling his wand carelessly between his fingers, his hand on Ginny's waist. Ginny, who knew that her relationship with an American would only add fuel to this particular fire was trying unsuccessfully to remove his hand.

"Oi, Ginny, is that a bloke you've got there? He seems bloody infatuated with you, doesn't he?" George taunted, seemingly unaffected by the conflict, but slowly making his way closer to Ron, making sure that he could get an arm around him if the need arose.

"Who're you exactly?" Jake demanded, regarding the taller red headed man with scorn.

"I'm George, Ginny's older brother. I've already said that, mate, keep up now," George said with a smile, winking at Jake. Sarah, unable to keep away from Ginny and Jake came up behind them both and slid her hand into Ginny's asking her if she was alright.

"Ho, _ho_!" George exclaimed, catching a glimpse of the triad in action. "Good luck explaining this one to Mum, Gin!"

"Shut it, you daft bastard!" Ginny said, completely exasperated. "This is hardly the time for me and my love life. In case you hadn't noticed, our other brother is about to either implode, or get himself murdered by someone he considers a _friend_."

"Too right, we'll come back to this in a minute. Now, ickle Ronny-kins, it looks like Hermione has done and gone got herself a boyfriend. You snooze, you lose, little brother, and you've been sleeping for a long damn time. What right do you have to a claim on Hermione? You've been ignoring her since you met her!"

"I have not!" Ron yelled, his face turning red with the effort, and the embarrassment at George's words.

"Yes, you bloody have," Hermione said quietly, her rage causing her hands to shake, and her hair to stand on end. "I waited for _years_ , for you to pay attention to me, you daft prat, but no. No, you'd rather carry on with the likes of Lavender Brown! Or God knows who else at Auror training!? I'm done waiting for you Ronald Weasley, and I've found, I'm really much better off without you."

Progressively throughout Hermione's little diatribe, the color in Ron's face had gone from somewhere south of cherry, to completely north of pomegranate, which Harry knew portended a complete loss of brain function.

"Better off without me? Yeah, I can just see that Hermione. You're bloody snogging a _Death Eater_ , one of the most evil people on the planet, and you're all chummy with him! He was basically Voldemort's right hand man, and you think you're better off with _him?"_ Ron sneered, completely unaware that the atmosphere around him had cooled by several degrees. "Thank Merlin I came here when I did, 'Mione. Next thing you know, you'd do something completely terminal like _sleep_ with the asshole, and there wouldn't be anything I could do to save you. Get your things, you're coming home with me."

Draco wasn't sure what concerned him more, the delusional state that Ron was currently living in, or the unintentional magic that was sparking off of Hermione, lowering the ambient temperature, and causing small sparks to shoot from her fingertips.

"Terminal?" Hermione asked quietly, her eyes never leaving Ron's face.

"Yeah!" Ron scoffed, gesturing to Malfoy with his chin. "If you shagged that tainted piece of shit, there's no bringing your reputation back from that 'Mione, member of The Golden Trio, or not. I've spoken to Kingsley, and he's more than willing to give you a place on the auror training squad with me. Come to think of it, he's even willing to forgo the usual testing, which he made me complete. Time for you to come home where you belong, love."

Looking back on it, Draco and the others would say it was the use of the casual moniker that Draco often used for her, coming from her unrequited love after so many years, that caused Hermione to snap.

"You've _got_ to be _fucking kidding me_!" Hermione shrieked, taking her wand and brandishing it against Ron, ready to spit any number of curses and hexes his way; a couple of inventive ones she'd learned from Chris the week prior coming to mind in the current situation.

George, sensing impending doom for his brother, felt the need to step in. "Hermione love, I can hardly let you dismember my brother while I'm sitting here, regardless of whether, or not, he might deserve it," he started, eying Ron speculatively, trying to figure out if he'd completely lost his mind. "How could I possibly return home to my formidable mum, knowing that I'd let you maim and disfigure poor old Ron?

"'Poor old Ron?" Hermione demanded, advancing on George and Ron both.

"Now, Hermione. I haven't done a bloody thing, except bring the git here, which I'm willing to acknowledge was a huge mistake - sorry Harry!" George said, smiling ruefully in Harry's direction while slowly backing Ron back towards the house and relative protection.

Harry, who'd been watching the whole thing with a degree of skepticism and scorn, was now paying a bit more attention. "How did he get permission to come?"

George, not used to being interrupted mid-apology, stopped. "What do you mean 'permission'?"

"Ron said that he was on probation in his last letter, something about not doing well on his latest auror training exams? He said he wasn't allowed to leave town until he could prove that he could apparate multiple times in a row without splinching himself."

"I didn't 'splinch' myself - it was only a couple of fingernails, and that was supposed to be a bloody _secret_ , you traitor!" Ron spat, his complexion becoming incredibly mottled with his embarrassment.

George, entirely pissed off now, rounded on his brother, grabbing him by the collar and pinning him to the house behind him. "Are you telling me that you hopped on _my_ International portkey, knowing _full well_ that you couldn't leave the country?" he demanded, his voice shaking with fury.

"C'mon, George," Ron said, trying to extricate himself from his brother's grasp. "You know Kingsley wasn't serious! I'm part of _The Golden Trio_ , he's not going to let me flunk out of Auror Training - that's bad for business, that is!"

"Of course you would rely on your acts from the war to get you through life, you helpless idiot," Draco muttered, unable to help himself.

"What was that, _Death Eater_?" Ron sniped, his breath still short due to his compromising position against the wall.

"I was just wondering how it was possible that the Ministry of Magic hadn't yet managed to see through the hideous façade you put on and realize that your role in 'The Golden Trio', as you put it, was… minimal."

" _Minimal!?"_ Ron screeched, his voice hitting an alarming octave with the pressure on his throat provided by George. "I killed one of those horcruxes myself you twat, so don't you _dare_ call my involvement 'minimal'."

At the mention of horcruxes, several of the WAM students gasped, clearly more familiar with the objects than Harry had ever been during his studies at Hogwarts.

"Ron! _Enough_ ," Harry said, completely ending the conversation. With a nod to George, he had him released, and George, with a firm grip on Ron's arm, directed him towards the main foyer, discussing with Mrs. Mills the aspects of their stay, including which room was theirs and ascertaining how far it would be from the rest of the students.

When Ron and George had left the courtyard, the rest of the students were quiet, unsure of what to say, or do. Harry, always willing to take the lead, held his hand out to Kate. "I'm tired love, care to join me for a bit of a lie down?"

Kate, not completely sure of what had gone down here, but more than clear on how much had been kept from her, refused to take his hand, but moved towards their shared room.

"Absolutely, _love,_ " she murmured, the emphasis on her pet name for him not going unnoticed.

"I think we should all just… take a rest," Harry suggested, motioning for all of them to take off and get inside.

"Well, _this_ should be interesting," Theo drawled, again trying to release the tension.

"Interesting indeed, Theo," Ben said, looking at him and Pansy with a hard expression on his face.

"Looks like they're not the only ones in the shit house," Pansy murmured to Theo, linking her hand with his and giving it a squeeze.

"Oh joy," Theo moaned, following Ben as he moved toward the house, his shoulders hunched nearly to his ears, a sure sign that he was angry.

"Here's to new beginnings…?" Jake said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Not now Jake," Ginny murmured, appreciating his attempt nonetheless.

"Can't blame a guy for trying," he murmured, pulling Ginny and Sarah closer, making a move towards their bedroom.

"No, no I can't blame you…" Harry said, looking after Kate as she stormed off towards their room. "I have a feeling this is going to be a long night."

"No shit," a chorus of voices rang out, indistinct, but united in the shit storm that had just rained down in Colorado.


	24. Revelations

**Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters, and we make no profit from this story.**

 **A/N:** Hello friends and followers! I've been doing some thinking, and some talking with my other writers, and we've decided that I'm going to take over America's Calling on a permanent basis. In honor of the move to my personal ErisAceso profile, I've started editing, and rejigging some of the earlier chapters, as well as continuing to write the rest of the story. It's been planned, plotted, and the current is strong - so I hope to finish it soon! Head on over to my profile and follow along as I re-release America's Calling, 1-2 chapters every week until it's finished, with supplementary content in the existing chapters. Can you spot the additions? Love you all! Xoxo Eris

CANNOT BELIEVE I FORGOT! Much love to RooOJoy - the inspiration of this story, and the best alpha reader and beta a girl could ask for. Also HUGE kudos to GeminiaWow author of the beloved Cassie Zabini as well as many, many others (regular plunny farmer, that one!). Thank you ladies for introducing me to writing, and giving me a love I never knew I needed!

* * *

 **Chapter 24 ~ Revelations ~**

Kate beat Harry back to the room. She changed into the pair of pyjamas she'd received for Christmas, sat at her vanity and began taking off her make up, starting her usual bedtime routine. _How could he keep this from me?_ she thought to herself, the words seeming to float across her mind on an endless loop. Snorting ungraciously, she realized that she didn't even know what 'this' was, she just knew that he'd kept something from her. Something _big_.

As she was pondering the state of her relationship and what Harry's motivations could have possibly been to lie to her this way, Harry himself walked in the room. He closed the door behind him, and then leaned back on the door, both of his hands still behind his back, locked on the door handle with a vice-like grip. He watched her carefully, taking in the way she was holding herself; outwardly calm, but the tension in her neckline and shoulders sang a different tune, as did the firmness in her smile and glint in her gaze.

"Kate, can we talk?"

"Oh sure, Harry. Let's talk," she said, gently setting down the brush she'd been using to comb out her hair, turning on the bench and crossing her legs demurely, folding her hands on her lap.

"Don't say it like that, love. I've wanted to talk to you about it, I just… couldn't. How do you tell someone you're just getting to know, and falling in love with, all at the same time, that you're a child of war - that you were at the center of it? It's not something you just come up with over tea!"

"Actually, yes, it is. It is, when you trust the person on the other side of the table enough to know the most important things about you. It is, when you love the other person enough not to hide an _entire part of yourself!_ " She'd started out speaking with an entirely reasonable tone, but the farther she got into her statement, the more emotional she became, until she whipped back around to hide her tears.

Perfectly capable of seeing them in the mirror, Harry felt absolutely retched.

"Kate, _please_. I wasn't trying to lie to you; it wasn't about trust, or lack thereof! Everywhere I've ever gone, _everyone_ has known who I am. People have asked for autographs while I was shopping for trousers for Merlin's sake, and all for what ended up being one of the worst moments of my life. Then, this madman comes out of the woodwork, determined to kill me and my mentor sends me off to confront him… This was the most powerful wizard of our time, Kate. And I was an eleven year old boy," Harry finished quietly, looking at the floor.

"Go on…"

"Voldemort killed my parents, and he tried to kill me, but the Avada backfired leaving me with the scar on my forehead, and killing him," Harry started, eager to get the telling over with.

"I thought you said that was from a quidditch accident?" Kate asked, brow raised.

"Dammit, Kate, stop looking at me like that!"

"Like you _lied_ to me?" she asked innocently.

"Like I did it to _hurt_ you. Intentionally!"

"But you did lie to me, intentionally. You lied to me, you covered up your past and you did it consistently for _months_. How could you have possibly thought that it wouldn't hurt me?"

"I… I knew it would hurt, alright? But you don't understand, you couldn't _possibly_ understand!" Harry yelled, starting to pace in front of the door.

"Try me," Kate snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"This is the first time I've ever made a friend who didn't know that I'd survived the darkest wizard ever known to man. This is the first time someone has started talking to me, and kept talking to me, because of who I am as a person. Rather than what happened to me as an infant, or as an eleven year old facing his disembodied soul, or as a fifteen year old when I watched a friend die, but survived his return yet again… Or as a seventeen year old, when I killed him in front of a crowd of people."

Kate stared at Harry blankly, as the weight of what he was saying sank in. He thought he could see the weight of it being placed on her shoulders as he watched them sag a little. _I'd give anything to take that weight back_ , Harry thought with complete and utter anguish.

Seeing the look of pain on Harry's face, Kate moved across the room, grabbing both of his hands in hers. "What? What just happened there Harry?"

"I could see it, the weight of what I've done, what I've _told you_ , dragging you down. I'd give anything to take it all back and keep it so that you didn't have to know about any of it!" he yelled, frantic with need.

"I don't feel heavier Harry, I feel _lighter_ ," Kate insisted, grabbing his face with both of her hands so that he couldn't look away. "Don't you understand that this puts so many things about you in perspective? You guys told me so little when I found the scar on Hermione's arm, and when I saw Draco's mark. None of it made sense. Now? Everyone looking to you in a crisis, the way you all seem like you're completely on edge all of the time. Do you even realize that you guys walk together, so that no one's back is ever exposed? Watching you guys play laser tag was one of the most harrowing and frankly, frightening, experiences of my entire life - and I've driven with Jake!" Kate said, trying to lighten the mood, but Harry was having none of it.

"Harry, knowing this about you doesn't change how I see you, or how much I love you. It just lets me love you completely, and understand _all_ of you, not just the parts you've chosen to show me. Let me love you Harry…"

With that Kate grabbed Harry by the hand, and led them to her vanity, where she made quick work of running a brush through his hair, and divesting him of his clothes before taking him to bed. It was in the middle of their love making, when Harry realized that she'd been right. As he watched her come apart around him, her hair framing her face as she rode him softly, slowly, he realized that this was the witch he'd been waiting for. He'd heard once that at birth, the human soul was split into three pieces; one to remain in you, keeping you alive and in search of the other two. The second to be put into your best friend - someone you could trust with your deepest secrets, The third to be put into your one true love, the one you could trust with your deepest secrets _and_ your heart. He'd thought a long time ago that he'd found one third of his soul in Hermione - the one witch in his life who called him on his shit, but never judged, or dismissed him. He knew now that he'd found the last third in the woman who'd heard his worst secrets, caught his heart and was carefully guarding both like they were her most precious possessions. How did he know? He'd never felt more complete in his entire life.

OoOoO

Elsewhere in the Mills Mansion, Theo, Ben and Pansy had just finished telling the whole sordid tale to Ben, who was taking it rather badly.

"You mean to tell me, that your… headmaster?" he paused, looking for clarification to make sure he had this right.

"Yeah, sort of like your Dean Carter, only about a million times more terrifying and a smidge more crazy, if I'm honest," Theo said flippantly.

"Your _headmaster_ , the person who was supposed to be in charge of your emotional and physical well-being, sent an eleven year old boy to fight a disembodied, terribly evil wizard, who was trying to get his hands on his own reincarnation. _Then_ , he left him to delve into a secret chamber with a fifty foot basilisk armed with nothing but a bird and a bloody magical hat to defend himself against yet another reincarnation of same said terribly evil wizard?"

"That about sums up first and second year, yeah. Well done mate!" Theo said, clapping Ben on the back. Ben, not even remotely amused, held up his finger indicating he was not quite finished.

"In your third year, this same headmaster knew that, what he assumed was a mass murderer, was looking for Harry, that he'd been in the castle where you lived, and he did nothing. Only to _bend time_ to try and fix it. As if that weren't enough, we have the completely mental TriWizard Tournament that pitted a bunch of students against: dragons, a lake full of untold horrors, and a maniacal maze. Only to have the prize at the end of it be a portkey to the graveyard, where _yet again_ , the terribly evil wizard could be found, who then slit Harry open and basically came back from the dead, but not before killing one of your classmates. Have I got that right?"

"Mmmhmmm, doesn't sound to me like you've missed anything - though when you summarize it that way it does seem completely insane," Theo said looking at Pansy for confirmation.

" _Seems_ insane!?" Ben shouted, completely at a loss for how casual they seemed to be about it all. Looking for Pansy for some sort of reassurance, she took pity on him and came to sit in his lap, stroking her hand through his hair.

"Hold onto your hat love, it's not over yet…" she murmured in his ear, holding his hand and motioning for Theo to continue.

"Right, so, in our fifth year, Harry was telling everyone that he was back and our government basically called him a liar, had our headmaster removed from his position while installing the most terribly evil _woman_ in his place. This woman took away any sense of freedom we had, used a cursed quill to give us lines to write in our own blood, and in the end went completely batshit, even willing to use unforgiveables on students."

Ben was about to interject, his eyes bugging out widely when Pansy slapped a hand over his mouth, murmuring calming things in his ear and then finally threatening to get a calming draft to drug him with if he didn't let Theo finish.

"In our last year, the terribly evil wizard came back with all of his evil followers, attacked us all at school, and tried to kill Harry. Harry, ever the self-sacrificing idiot had been on the run with Ron, the guy you met earlier, and Hermione, trying to kill the horcruxes that Voldemort had created. Now…"

But Ben couldn't control himself, or his curiosity. "You said, Horcrux- _es_ , you mean he had more than _one?_ " he demanded, incredulous.

"Yeah, Potter said he had seven… well, then we found out that he really had eight because he'd made Harry one by accident when he tried to murder him when he was a kid," Theo said off-handedly, getting lost in the details. "No matter, don't rush me, I'm getting there!"

Unable to think of anything productive to say, or do, Ben simply sat there, his mouth gaping open like a deranged fish.

"So, when Harry found out the last horcrux was at school, he came back, destroyed it, then set about trying to kill the snake, which he thought was the last one. _Then_ , he found out from our potions professor that he was the last horcrux, so he went to the terribly evil wizard to let him kill it."

" _Kill it!?_ " Ben screeched, losing his cool completely. "But, he would have had to _kill Harry_! What the fuck was he thinking!?"

"See mate, now we're on the same page! I thought the same thing, and apparently so did Ron and Hermione, because they were right pissed when he went off to the forest to meet him by himself…"

"By… himself? Harry… Harry faced off against the darkest wizard of your age, by himself, knowing full well that he had to… die?" Ben asked quietly, too stunned at what he was hearing to even be mad. He felt an overwhelming grief for all of the terror and suffering that they'd all had to go through, but the agony he felt on behalf of Harry who'd had to stare down the scariest thing a person could face. Well, it was indescribable.

"Yeah, he did," Theo said, completely sober now. Even he couldn't maintain any sort of levity when he thought about what Potter had done to try and save them all. The amount of guts that would take… He didn't think he'd have had them, and wasn't afraid to admit it. "He walked into the woods knowing he was going to die, and he did it to save the bloody world."

"That's… that's insane!" Ben said, looking at them both. "How could any of this have happened? You were just _kids!_ "

"I know, love," Pansy said, rubbing his back in comfort. She had lived the story and couldn't imagine having 'walked-in' on it so to speak. It truly was horrifying when it was laid out from beginning to end. "Our potions master ended up being a double agent, who'd helped from the beginning. In the end, he provided Harry with the knowledge he needed to defeat Voldemort. Albus Dumbledore, who will go down in history as the man who started it all and helped end not just Grindelwald, but Voldemort as well, died on the astronomy tower the day that Draco let the death eaters into Hogwarts."

At this, Ben's face went pale and he looked at her aghast. He was completely terrified for the Pansy and Theo they had been in that moment. The Pansy and Theo who would've had to fight, to choose a side, knowing that it could very well mean their death. Even knowing they were right there in front of him, that they'd survived, he was still afraid. After the fear, came the rage. "How could Draco have done it?" he demanded, getting to his feet. "How could he have put you all in that place? How can _you_ all be friends with him given… What. He's. Done!?"

Theo, willing to give him room to process, was not willing to give him this. "Don't," he said sharply, putting his hand on Ben's chest, preventing him from making a move for the door. So abrupt and jarring was the gesture that Ben felt like he'd run into a battering ram.

"What do you mean, _don't_?" Ben snapped, eager to get some answers, preferably from the death eater himself.

"I mean don't think that you could possibly understand everything that went on during that time based on the ten minute synopsis you've gotten from Pansy and me. We've left things out Ben, we've left a _lot_ of things out. Like how the terribly evil wizard decided to take up residence in Draco's childhood home to direct his evil minions. How Draco was forced to become a death eater to save his epic fuck up of a father, and his truly formidable mother. How Voldemort set Draco the _impossible_ task of killing, _KILLING_ , our headmaster, one of the most impressive wizards on the planet, or else he and his family would lose their lives. You have no idea what you would do in that situation," Theo finished darkly, his face stony and ashen.

"I would _never_..." Ben started, renewing his attempts to get to the door.

This time it was Pansy that spoke in defence of their friend. "You'd like to think you wouldn't, but it's the gods' honest truth that you don't know that, Ben. We'd all like to think that we'll be completely stand up human beings in the face of unquestionable horrors, but the huge majority of us will do just what it takes to survive. It's people like Harry, like Hermione, and like bloody fucking _Longbottom_ , that do the extraordinary. Because they're extraordinary people from the start. I was never that extraordinary Ben," she ended softly, looking at him, her emotions and her guilt laid bare.

"Neither was I," Theo stated baldly, daring Ben to question it and question it,he did.

"What the hell are you two talking about? You're the most extraordinary people I know!" he shouted at them.

"Are we? Can you honestly say that's true with what you now know about Harry, Hermione and Neville? Don't even get me started on Ginny who was underage when this all went down and still managed to stay in the fight…" Theo retorted, getting angry at his insistence that they were good people. "We don't have any stories of bravery Ben, we have stories of _survival_. We joined the Inquisitorial Squad because it meant we weren't on the receiving end, and maybe, just maybe we could lessen the pain that others suffered. We hid in dark corners, and taught others to hide like us - even the bloody Gryffindors who swore they would fight. We brought them down to our level, Ben, and we did it gladly."

Pansy nodded with every word, her head low with the guilt she was wearing like a crown, heavy on her head.

"What. The actual. Fuck." Ben spat, furious with the both of them. "Do you think that takes less courage? Do you think that sitting in the snake's lair, posing as one of them, but doing your best to dissent from within is… is…" He was gesturing widely, searching for the word he was looking for.

"Sneaky? Underhanded?" Theo tossed out, the words indicative of his self-loathing.

"Weak, Self-Serving?" Pansy added to the mix, not meeting Ben's eye.

Ben took this moment to punch Theo square in the jaw. Not waiting another heartbeat, he took Pansy by both shoulders and shook her, hard. Theo, used to taking one to the face, was up and grabbing Ben, barring both of his arms with his own in a giant bear hug from behind, muttering epithet after epithet while trying to drag him away from Pansy.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing you feckless twat? Don't you _dare_ handle her that way!" Theo roared, shoving Ben so hard he fell against the wall in the corner of their room and taking a position that put himself between Ben and Pansy.

"I… I'm sorry," Ben started, collecting himself. He stood slowly, his hands raised in front of him to show he meant no harm, clearly trying to get his bearings. "I'd never hurt Pansy, Theo. You know that, don't you?" he asked quietly, looking at Pansy to see her nod, before looking to Theo and waiting.

"Then why did you put your hands on her?" Theo asked, his breathing still rough and haggard, his pupils dilated with adrenaline.

"I was desperate to make you two see sense, to snap you out of the spiral of self-loathing you've obviously been living in!" Ben said with more heat than he wanted. Taking a deep breath, he tried again. "What you two did was no _less_ than what the others did just because it was less obvious. You inserted yourselves in the best places you possibly could to minimize harm and affect change when the time was right. There is nothing weak, or cowardly about that."

"We'll have to agree to disagree," Pansy said, turning from the two of them. Ben moved quickly toward Pansy until a growl from Theo had him freezing where he stood. Staring into his eyes, Ben let Theo see his true intentions in the pain and the need to comfort showing there. At a quick nod from Theo, Ben moved to wrap Pansy in his arms.

"No, we will _not_ agree to disagree," Ben said softly, tilting her chin up so she would meet his eye. "What you did was brave, and in many ways selfless - even if your path gave you a few more creature comforts, for a longer period of time. You still helped people when you could, and you still chose the right side. That's brave, and I won't hear either of you talk shit about yourselves because of the way you chose to be brave."

Theo had turned on the room, seemingly choosing to look out the window, but Pansy knew better. She walked up to Ben and mouthed "Thank-you", before turning him and giving him a small shove in Theo's direction.

From far away, Ben couldn't have said what was wrong with the man in front of him, but as he grew closer, he could see the tremble, and the tell tale shakes of a man trying very, very hard not to cry out loud.

"It didn't _feel_ brave," Theo choked out. "It felt selfish, like I was trying to cover my own ass!" He yelled it while looking at Pansy, seeing the understanding and agreement written all over her features. "We _hid_ in plain sight, Ben. We didn't feel like we were planting ourselves in the enemy lines for the sake of good versus evil. We felt like it was our only option. It would have been suspicious for us to leave all together, and would have marked our families as traitors. So, we stayed, to protect ourselves and the ones we loved, not to protect anyone else!" he finished, his breath heaving.

"I think what Ben's trying to say is that, we protected our families by staying in harm's way, and _that_ was brave. And then while in harm's way, we did our best to protect those around us when the opportunity arose – which was not in fact self serving because it kept our allegiances a secret, thus protecting our families, ourselves and allowing us to continue protecting those around us when the opportunity struck. And that all of that, is brave," she finished quietly, her voice reflecting the awe that she felt at seeing herself this way for the first time. She hadn't realized that she'd internalized a lot of what the wizarding people had to say about her and her fellow Slytherin classmates, who had remained at the castle and appeared to join the enemy ranks. A weight was lifted off of her very soul as she pondered the prospect that she wasn't in fact defined as a self-serving Slytherin, but that there was a little bit of the brave Gryffindor, the self-sacrificing Hufflepuff, and the wise Ravenclaw in her after all.

Theo however, was having a harder time assimilating this information, and was shaking his head violently, like he was trying to physically repel the words floating through his mind. "No, that's… that's not how it was for me," he said frantically, realizing that he no longer had Pansy's understanding.

"I… I didn't care about anybody, but me," he finally yelled, standing still like the statue he felt like he was becoming; devoid of emotion, with a concrete heart at the center.

"That's a damn lie," Pansy spat, her anger sparking. "You looked out for me that entire bloody year Theo, and _then_ some. What about when Alecto caught me giving murtlap essence to that first year who'd had a go round with Umbridge? You told her that it was on your orders, that he couldn't very well go to the detention he had tomorrow with McGonagall if he looked the way he did. You got him _and_ me out of trouble that day Theo, and if Alecto had suspected for a second that you were a liar and a traitor, she wouldn't have hesitated to crucio you until the end of time. _You know it!_ "

Ben had come up behind Theo during Pansy's little diatribe, and now it was his turn to give Theo the bear hug he so desperately needed. Theo was thrashing in his arms, physically trying to reject the mercy that they were showing him he deserved, like his body and his mind were rejecting the information like a virus. It wasn't until Pansy joined Ben, and wrapped her arms around him, nestling her hands in the small of Theo's back, under the warm, firm belly of Ben, that Theo began to quiet. His tears still ran freely, but he was no longer fighting them; the tears, or his lovers.

"I… I was… brave?" he whispered, almost like he was afraid that they were going to take it all back.

"You were brave love, we all were," Pansy said, finally letting her own tears fall.

"Don't ever doubt it again," Ben murmured, planting a kiss on the back of Theo's neck. "Either of you," he added, making eye contact with Pansy.

Under the door a pair of extendable ears were slithering their way back to the person who held them, to be tucked back where they came from until the next time opportunity knocked.

OoOoO

Jake and Sarah were speaking quietly by the fire place in their 'adjoining salon', as Kate called it, when Ginny returned in her pyjamas, hair brushed, teeth squeaky clean and ready to sleep.

"What's this then?" she asked, gesturing to the tête-à-tête occurring on the other side of the room. As a unit, Jake and Sarah turned, hands clasped with very serious looks on their faces. "Well, I'm not going to like this, am I?" Ginny said, sitting on the chair in between the two of them.

"We think it's time you told us what you were talking about that day in the car when we were driving together. You told us that you had nightmares, and that it wasn't just your story to tell, but… well, it would seem that the cat's out of the bag, so we'd like to know too," Sarah said nervously, looking to Jake for reassurance. He gave her a quick smile and leaned down to place a chaste kiss on her cheek before looking at Ginny with the most open and sympathetic gaze she'd ever seen on a face.

Despite the reassurance, Ginny felt her heart beat increasing speed, and her palms were getting sweaty. Her breath wasn't coming as easily as it should have been, given the fact she was sitting and not chasing someone, or running for her life. Abruptly, her mind flashed back to a time when she had been running for her life and that of another.

 _She was at Hogwarts, in the middle of the battle. Death eaters and students dropping like flies all around her as curses and hexes flew like birds. She could see Fred and George duelling the Carrows, all smiles despite the insanity of the whole thing. Looking desperately for Harry, she'd barely taken the time to breathe, let alone pay attention to the carnage around her. It was when she heard a noise, a noise she had never heard come out of a human, coming from the corner. She turned and was running before her mind had even registered what had happened. The next events happened in a series of flashes, like her mind had refused to remember them in any particular sequence, and definitely not in their entirety. Flash. George holding Fred in his arms, keening and demanding he wake up. Flash. Her mother finding out Fred had died. Flash. Ron finding out Fred had died. Flash. Harry finding out Fred had died, along with Remus and Tonks._

She came to on the floor, sobbing. Her head was in Sarah's lap and Jake was pacing back and forth between the fireplace, his cheeks wet with tears. _I wonder if he even knows that he's crying?_ she wondered, as she tried to pull herself together.

"I… I'm sorry, I don't know what that was," Ginny murmured, extracting herself from Sarah's lap, and curling up into the chair once more, preparing to tell her story.

"I'd say it was a flashback," Jake said, having come to a standstill, wiping his tear-stained cheeks and resting his hands on the hearth.

"Wh-what?" Ginny stammered, glancing back between Sarah and Jake. She couldn't see Jake's face, but if it matched Sarah's in any way, she wasn't sure she wanted to.

"A flashback. I've read about them in Muggle Studies. They were common after the Muggle first and second world wars. The people who fought in them frequently remembered horrific acts they had committed, or as in your case, people close to them being killed in action."

"How… How did you…?" Ginny was still stuttering, backing herself as far into the chair cushions as she could, making herself as _small_ as she could.

"You were saying all of it out loud Gin," Sarah said softly, crawling on her knees so she could be closer to her. Ginny recoiled at her words, trying to move farther away, but finding herself trapped by the back of the chair.

"No… No, I wouldn't. I couldn't have!" she yelled, covering her face with her hands, breathing erratically.

Jake, hearing the obvious distress in her voice, turned then and walked towards her slowly, hand out. He motioned to Sarah to stop trying to physically comfort her, until he was sitting cross legged on the floor in front of Ginny.

"Ginny, love, you're OK. You're safe here – it's just Sarah and I! It's not a bad thing that you told that story. You haven't let go of some big secret. Remember, your brother Ron? He's here and he let slip that there was a lot more that went on back home than we knew, so you were about to tell us all about it anyway," he finished calmly, taking the opportunity to place his hand on her knee.

At his contact, with his words, Ginny felt herself calm; her heartbeat returned to something close to normal, and her breathing started to slow. Jake gave Sarah a nod, and she picked up Ginny's hand, linking their fingers together and kissing her hand.

"Are you OK now?" Jake asked, again. _So calm_ , she thought.

"Yes I… I think so?"

"OK then, tell us, love."

"There's nothing more to tell really. I thought I loved Harry, but then he left me to protect me. I stayed in school and fought the people who sought to teach us all how to hate, how to torture, and how to kill one another. I helped Neville – he was the leader then, by creating as much organized chaos as I could, and secreting away willing and able students to the Room of Requirement."

"Room of Requirement?" Jake asked, intrigued by the term.

Ginny couldn't help but smile at the curiosity – this was her Jake. "Yeah, it was a magical room inside the castle that became whatever you needed it to be when you walked outside of it. For instance, if you're a young lady in trouble for setting a whizzing Frisbee after a professor who was taking it in turn to torture a pair of first years with an unforgiveable and need a place to hide, it supplies you one, in a hurry," she said wryly.

Sarah made an indistinct noise of distress and Jake pulled her to him, burying her face in his shoulder. "Go on," he encouraged.

"When it became clear we'd need a permanent hide out, one of us stayed constantly in the room, keeping it in the iteration that we needed. Of course, as our numbers expanded, so did the room. Teachers sent house-elves with food, and our Charms Professor – Professor Flitwick – he charmed a bell to sound outside of the corridor to warn us if someone was at the main entrance."

"Smart," Jake said, nodding his approval. Ginny continued.

"We just… survived. We saved as many as we could, as fast as we could, until one day Harry showed up. He was looking for something in the castle, and our friend Luna helped him find it. I lost him for a bit there, as he was running off destroying bits of the bastard's soul – which I only found out later. My… My brother Fred, George's twin? He died fighting in the war, along with several of my friends. Harry… he… he walked into the forest knowing he was going to die to try and save us all. Voldemort – that was his name made up for himself, but his real name was Tom Riddle – he walked into the courtyard with what we thought was a dead Harry. I swear I thought a piece of me died right then," she said softly, pausing to reflect.

"I don't doubt that," Sarah said, trying as hard as she could not to imagine it herself, and failing. "You loved him, and he died. That would be _devastating_." Ginny blushed at these words, not used to discussing her past relationship with Harry with the two people she was currently in a relationship with.

"I _thought_ I loved him…" Ginny argued, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"No, you loved him Gin, and that's OK," Jake said, insistent. "The fact that you loved Harry when you were a teenager doesn't diminish the love you feel for us now. If anything, it means more, because you know what you're talking about," he said with a smirk, as always, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, he wasn't dead, as you may have worked out," Ginny said with a smirk latching onto Jake's levity like it was a life line. "He shocked the hell out of us all, that's for sure, and he dueled that evil bastard until he was pushing daisies," she finished, the ending feeling fairly lame for what had been a momentous occasion.

"Pushing daisies?" Sarah asked, a brow raised in question.

"Yeah, snuffed. Kicked the bucket? Croaked, toast, bury him ass up, so you have a place to park your bike. I could go all day here…"

Jake couldn't help himself and he dissolved in a fit of epic laughter, rolling on the floor and holding his sides in as though he were fit to burst. The laughter was contagious, and soon Sarah and Ginny had both joined in, laughing until you could hear their ribs creaking from the door. As it died down, Jake grabbed both of their hands and pulled them so they were each sitting nestled into one of his shoulders.

"Nothing like that is ever going to happen to you again, Gin," he said resolutely.

"You can't know that Jake. No, you can't!" she said as she could feel him trying to protest. "We never thought what happened to us could happen, and it did. Tomorrow isn't promised, and it sure as hell isn't promised happy. One of the things that has gotten me through, besides a lot of firewhisky, is the idea that every single good day that I have offsets one of the bad ones. I plan to spend a long time making sure I have more good ones than bad ones on the grand old tally sheet, OK? That doesn't mean every day has to be picnics and shags in the pool…"

"Shagging in the pool? Never done that, we should give it a try. The Mills have a heated one in the back, you know…"

"Jake! _So_ not the point!" Sarah said jabbing him with her elbow.

"Right, stay on track."

"It doesn't all have to be perfect, but any day where I get to spend it with the two of you, well… That's more than enough for me."

"Awwwe… you're so sappy!" Jake said, earning him not one, but two elbows in the ribs. _Worth it for that smile on their faces_ , he thought to himself.

"Shut it," they both said, pushing him so he was lying flat and moving to place kisses on his neck.

"Yes ma'ams," he said, to the perfect sound of his women giggling.


End file.
